The little things...

So it's been a while since my last post which was surprisingly upbeat compared to my first few post.  I'm happy to say that things are still going well here and part of it is due to a conscious change in attitude.  Moving here has taught me to really look for the little victories instead on focusing on the defeats.  Earlier this month I managed to get 3 days worth of activities and errands done all in one day.  Now keep in mind, what takes me 3 days to do here is one day of errands and such in the states.  At the end of that day I felt so accomplished and energized mainly because I began to realize that maybe I could survive here.

So enough about me because this is supposed to be about all of us.....

Cecilia has really settled in to her new life here and even though we think and talk about all of her friends in Texas and Louisiana she has really made some sweet and wonderful friends here.  She goes on play dates all the time and is happy and thriving!  School and learning are fun for her which I truly hope continues for years to come.  I love her creative spirit and her ability to find joy in almost every situation.

Keira and I have been getting out a lot more going to play groups and Kindermusik and parks (now that the temperature has dropped below 100 degrees).  We have made some friends and are enjoying our one on one time together.  It's lots of fun to see her personality developing!

This past week was Halloween which is somewhat celebrated here because of the large expat community.  We are fortunate enough to have a neighborhood full of expats so there were many houses participating, so we invited a friend of Cecilia's from school and we went trick-or-treating.  Cecilia was dressed as a pink My Little Pony and Keira was a little fairy.  We all had a blast and it was nice to have another little sense of normalcy here.

Cecilia and her friend Tiana

Keira's Costume from the back

Cecilia's school had it's Fall Festival, which is also Halloween themed, the day after Halloween.  They had a parade of costumes for all of the Elementary School and then had booths set up with games to play to win candy.  All of Cecilia's classmates were there and she had a great time running around with them and getting candy. 

On a not so fun note we've had to say goodbye to 2 families in the last month or so who were moving on to bigger and better things.  It's difficult living in such an ever changing expat community.  I'm not big change that I can't control and I'm used to having the same people around me all of the time so I have trouble when I have to watch friends leave not knowing when or if I'll ever see them again.  I guess it's something that I'll have to get used to experiencing. 

Anyways, that's all for now so I'll leave you with a few more pictures

A Sense of Normalcy! Back to the UAE....

So we have been back from the States for about 2 1/2 weeks now and are slowly getting into a normal routine.  While the girls and I were away for the summer, Tommy hired a WONDERFUL woman to be our live-in maid and did I mention she is WONDERFUL!!!!  After all of the hell we went through with our sea freight container getting sent back to Houston and having to go through it in a hot warehouse I was dreading coming back and unpacking all of it.  To my surprise, however, Heizle (our maid) had unpacked 90% of it!!  All I have left to do is hang the artwork and move a few things around and we have a fully put together house! YAY!  

Also on the positive side, my sweet Cecilia started Kindergarten or KG2 as they call it here.  Last Tuesday was her first day and she really loved it!  Her teacher is very sweet and the school is wonderful.  Cecilia is growing up so fast and while we have our little setbacks every now and then, I am amazed at how responsible she has become.  Every night before we go to bed she helps me pack her lunch and we pick out her clothes for the next day.  In the morning we put all of the food in her lunchbox, make sure her folder is in her bag, make sure she has her water bottle, get dressed and brush her teeth.  Granted I give her gentle reminders along the way till these things become routine. 

I didn't think that I would ever be happy to be back here but I had forgotten how wonderful it is to have Tommy home every night.  It has been great to have his support every night in getting the girls fed, bathed and in bed!  The girls are even doing better now that Daddy is home every night and they get so excited when he walks in the door.  Now, not everything is perfect but I don't expect perfect, just normal which I finally feel like I have even though I had to move halfway across the world to get it!

Well that's all for now!  I'll try to be better about updating from now on!

Mal

Carpets and Dubai

It's almost been a month since we left our life in the states and I miss it more than ever.   It's true that you don't know what you have till it's gone and lately I have realized how much we take for granted living in the states.  For example: clean tap water.  Now, I know that not everyone likes to drink tap water and most of us have refrigerators that filter the water for us but here you can't even drink filtered tap water without the fear of getting sick.  The only thing we use the filtered tap water for is for cooking (as long as it comes to a complete boil and sometimes I won't use it even then!).  Another thing is I used to only have to do laundry once a week, however here I have to do laundry every day and I still never finish.  There is always a full laundry basket at the end of the day because the washing machines are tiny and the dryers take four hours to dry your clothes!!!! I also miss being able to get my grocery shopping done in one store as well as relying on a store to have the same products from week to week. I know it sounds like I'm just complaining for the sake of complaining, which I am a bit, but, as many of you know, it is really difficult to cart more than one kid around to several different stores just to finish your grocery list and on top of that it seems that I have to go grocery shopping EVERY DAY!! This is my idea of hell!  

On a happier note, we bought carpets for some of the rooms which has vastly improved the look and feel of the house.  We went to the carpet souk (i.e. open market), which is like a strip mall with only carpet shops.

 

 This is the shop from which we bought our carpets.

 This is what it looks like inside, floor to ceiling carpets.

The Souk was interesting to say the least.  As you pull in to the parking lot the are men without shoes outside of each shop waving for you to come to their shop.  They are so eager that it made me a little nervous about trying to walk around.  I'm definitely one of those people who doesn't like to be bothered when I shop unless I ask a question.  Anyway, we did find 3 carpets:

one for the living room

one for the master bedroom

and one for Cecilia's room (which Keira is currently using) 

We still have more to get but for now it is amazing how much just these 3 cut down on the echoes!!!

The next day we took a trip to Dubai Mall, which is the largest mall in the world!  As much as I hate shopping I think I would love to take a trip there by myself and spend the day shopping, however that was not really the case this time around.  The drive took us about an hour and a half and by the time we got there we were all hungry for lunch so we headed to the food court.  There was every type of cuisine you could think of and some of it was actually good!  We spent a good hour, if not longer, trying to figure out what everyone wanted all while chasing Keira all over the place.  Once we all ate we actually got to look around.  There is an aquarium, an ice-skating rink, multiple fountains and waterfalls all over the place.  If Keira weren't with us we could have gone in more shops but instead we just walked around and took in everything there was to see.  

Once we left everyone was tired and a bit cranky.  Cecilia fell asleep which was nice but Keira had a MASSIVE diaper blowout which she proceeded to put her hands in.  So we had to pull over and completely wipe her down, change her and wipe up as much as we could off of her car seat.

Well that's all for now but I'll leave you with some pictures from Dubai Mall.

  

Surviving...

So here are the things that I have managed to accomplish so far:

1. I have made it to several grocery stores and malls (there are a ton of malls!)with both kids which is a huge undertaking for me!

2. With the help of the other ExxonMobil wives I have found a babysitter who lives next door and a part-time maid.  I never had a babysitter in the almost 5 years that we lived in Texas.

3. Tommy and I were able to attend a Dinner with other ExxonMobil employees and their spouses.  I met a lot of wonderful women who have taken me under their wings and helped me to adjust to life here.

4.  The girls and I took a trip to the beach with a friend and had a wonderful time playing in the sand and water.

5.  I have gotten most of the girls clothes out of the suitcases and in to the closets (even though I'll have to pack them up again in about a month or so)

6. I have ordered lots and lots of takeout! I only have three pots for the time being and no storage containers so I can only cook once every few days.  The food is pretty good here!

We are supposed to receive our air shipment in the next few days so at least then the girls will have some toys and I will have more pots and utensils. It really is difficult to cook anything when you only have three pots. Also we'll be able to start sleeping in the master bedroom since the sheets and comforter are in the air shipment.

The house is coming along but we still desperately need rugs to absorb some of the echo. Oh yeah and furniture would be nice too considering poor Keira is sleeping in her pack-n-play in an empty room. 

Here are some of the pictures Tommy has taken so far...

 

Love you all!!

Pictures from the plane

Here are the few pictures we took of the flight over here.  As you will notice I have a glass of champagne in almost every shot!!!

This is in the Lounge before we got on the plane

Had Keira in the car seat initially but it didn't last long 

This is what she looked like after screaming for 10 minutes before and during takeoff 

Abu Dhabi so far...

So we've been here for a little less than a week and yet it seems like it's been a month!  The flight over here had it's good points and bad points.  The good was the free and endless champagne, the movies and the decent food and the bad was my screaming children and the HORRIBLE turbulence in the middle of the night, both of which kept me from sleeping.  Fortunately we survived the flight though we were exhausted!!


The first night we all managed to sleep.  The next night Keira only slept from midnight to 4am so I got no sleep that night so we all took naps the next day.  Keira's jet lag continues but is slowly getting better.  I'm hoping that she will be totally adjusted to the time by the end of the week


Tommy did a great job getting us set up here as far as the kitchen appliances and the minimal furniture he purchase to hold us over till we receive our stuff in a few months.  He is trying so hard to make this as easy as possible on me and the girls but I'm probably not making it easy on him.


The house is in a great location and will be very nice if I can ever get it cleaned up from all of the work that was done before we got here.  Also once our furniture gets here it might feel more like home but as for now it's dirty and echoes A LOT because of the marble and tile floors.  When the girls are playing the entire house echoes with their screams and it's deafening!!!! 


I feel quite uncomfortable when we leave the house because I never feel like I'm dressed appropriately and I swear everyone is staring at me.  It's amazing how much I've taken the freedoms of the States for granted.  Tommy neglected to tell me how many women actually wear the full coverings either with only their eyes showing or mesh over their entire face.  I hate to say this but it freaks me out a bit and I don't know if I'll ever get used to it. 


For those of you in Texas, if you think the driving is bad there, you really should see it here!  People regularly cut you off at high speeds, turn from non-turning lanes and double park like crazy!!!  I'll have to post a picture of the parking lots here.  They pretty much park wherever they want and if they block you in they leave their cell phone numbers on their dashboard so you can call them to tell them to move.  People drive at ridiculously high speeds and they don't use car seats for kids so you'll see someone holding a newborn in their arms while sitting in the front seat!  It gets a little scary when you are new to driving in the area.


Anyway, I miss all of you and I miss my home a ton!  I have a little freak out almost everyday and some days I feel like the walls are closing in on me but I try to hold on to the little victories like finding my way to the grocery store without getting into an accident or even being honked at more than once (they honk at everyone all of the time). I'm just hoping things get better sooner rather than later!