I finished bathing Artem tonight and it was his time to play with his tub toys. I was attempting to soak the ravioli stains out of his shirt in the bathroom sink when I overheard, "One, two, dee, dour, dive" (at this point I realize he's counting and it's in order and I look at him without him seeing me and discover he's counting his tub toys) "dix, deven, eight, DEVEN!!" Holy cow, I just saw Artem count his tub toys all the way to eight! I'm so proud of him!! (Tiff you'll be happy to know that the Thomas tub squirters you gave him for Christmas were in that group)
In other bathroom news...I have decided to give up on potting training Artem...his wife can do it! Hey, we can't win them all.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
You Could Put An Eye Out!
So on Saturday we were all in Artem’s room and Randy was hammering the hooks into the wall. Artem and I were over 10 feet away when one of the nails broke off the hook Randy was hammering and shot clear across the room into my eye. It was so surreal, I literally could see the nail coming straight at my eye but it was like it was in slow motion and I couldn’t duck fast enough. As soon as the nail hit, it gave me this sick feeling and I got an instant headache. We found the nail on the floor so I knew it wasn’t stuck in my eye but I was in a lot of pain. I thought I just scratched it and figured a good night’s sleep would make it go away. But by the next morning I was in a lot of pain and the eye would not stop watering and when I say watering, I mean so much tearing that it was running down my face, dripping onto my arms and running down my hands when I tried to blot it.
I called Randy at work and told him to come home so he could take me to the hospital. We walked into the Ophthalmology department without an appointment at 1:05 pm. By 2:00 pm we were downstairs at the Baskin Robbins having a chocolate shake. The doctor called me back right away and looked at my eye and said I had a “cornea erosion”, basically I had a chunk missing from my cornea. She put a contact lens Band-Aid on my eye and gave me a prescription for an antibiotic and some moisture eye drops. I go back tomorrow for a follow up. The appointment cost me 50 dirham and my prescriptions cost 40 dirham, that’s under $27 US dollars for all of it AND I was at the hospital and pharmacy for less than an hour. This is the second time we have had to use the medical system here in UAE, the first was Artem’s finger, and each time we have been extremely pleased with the care we have received.
Tonight is the first night I have been able to type without my eye hurting and tearing. My vision is still very blurry in my left eye but I’m hoping it’s just the contact Band-Aid and once the doctor removes it tomorrow, my vision will improve.
With all the different languages in UAE, the pharmacist has to have an "international" way of letting a person know how often to take the medicine. Can you see how he told me how many times a day that I need to take the medicine?
One interesting side note on my eye drama, Artem has never shown us any empathy but on Saturday when I got hurt, he was very concerned and kept trying to rub me and touch me and asking me to hold him. Since then he keeps asking me if my eye hurts and tells me he wants to give me a “tiss” (kiss) and when I bend down, he gently kisses my eye. It’s nice to see this side of Artem and see him reach this attachment milestone, even if I had to take a nail to the eye to see this side of him.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
A Girl Could Get Used To This
Before I get started, I wanted to put up a couple maps so everyone can see where UAE is at. When Randy first mentioned moving to UAE, I had to google it to find it. I had never heard of it before.
This map is the general area that UAE is in:
This map is a little closer and you can see the proximity to Dubai:
Artem and I arrived Friday night into Dubai after a pleasant and uneventful flight, minus Artem throwing up the chocolate shake he shared with me two hours prior in the airport, but other than that, Artem was a great traveller, did fantastic on the six hour layover in Atlanta and slept nine hours of the sixteen hour flight from Atlanta to Dubai. I could not have asked for more.
We are settling in nicely to our new place in Abu Dhabi. You might remember that our first home here was a seven bedroom, nine bathroom villa in a neighborhood without expats, only locals, and I was very lonely and bored. The new "flat" as they call them here, is in a very desireable location downtown and there will be plenty for Artem and I to do. As a matter of fact, tomorrow morning I have my first coffee with the Abu Dhabi Women's group and I'm hoping to meet some new people to get together with.
Below is a picture of our building, it's called the Abela building even though it has a giant Damac sign on top. On the first floor of the building there is a grocery store called Abela's and that's where it gets it's name. Look on the top floor, all the way to the right, and you'll see our balcony and flat. It's a two-story flat and a fairly good size. It's not a 7 bedroom villa, but we've managed to fit. *insert sarcasm*
We have a live-in maid in our new place. Her name is Priyanti and she's from Sri Lanka and I have no idea why I did not get a live-in sooner!! If you don't have a live-in maid, I HIGHLY recommend you getting one and fast. She keeps this place spotless, literally, and as soon as I put dirty dishes in the sink, she cleans them. She mops and dusts constantly, the garbage in the bathroom is emptied daily, and tonight she was misting and dusty the leaves on the plants. At our house in Texas, my fake plants are lucky if they get put outside once every two years to let the central Texas winds blow them clean. Priyanti would faint if she saw the dust bunnies that lurk under our couch and heaven help her if she saw the top of the entertainment center; a small herb garden could thrive in the amount of dust that's on there. I don't know what I'm going to do when I have to return to reality back in the states. I wonder how Priyanti feels about America??
Back to the grocery store at the bottom of our building...I went shopping today with Artem and bought as much "western" food as I could. Grape Nuts, Campbell's soup, Oscar Meyer hotdogs (no Kosher hotdogs Stef), Cheetos, and assorted fruits and vegetables. It's fairly easy to have a taste of home here but the thing I love most about the groceries here are the fruits, they are delicious and much better than what we get in the states. Today I bought grapes, tomatos, and plums and they were all so good. They import the majority of their fruits and vegetables and label them according to what country they came from. I find that I don't buy any from the states as they aren't as tasteful as some of the other countries they import from like Holland, China, and Africa. When we leave I will miss the fruit. Anyway, I check out and get ready to lug all my bags upstairs and the bagger starts to push my buggy. I told him I had to carry them myself as I did not drive and he points up and says, "What room?" I didn't know our flat number and told him such and he starts to push the buggy anyway and pushed all my bagged groceries right into our lobby, up in the elevator, and straight to my door. He stood at my door and unloaded all my bags. I tell you, between a live-in maid and a man that delivers my groceries to my door, a girl could get used to this life!! You gotta love how service oriented UAE is and you know, when in Rome...
Our building:
Our new flat is right next to the Corniche, which was recently "remodeled" and is a heavily used area. The Corniche runs the length of the Persian Gulf and is made up of gardens, bike and running trails, and my favorite spot on the Corniche...Baskin Robbins! I took Artem out today in the jogging stroller and we went for a spin on the Corniche. We stopped at a smoothie shop and split a strawberry/orange smoothie while sitting outside watching the waves roll in. It was heaven and was one of those moments where time kind of stood still and I just looked at Artem in amazement at what an incredible son we have been blessed with.
Here are a few pictures of the Corniche. Some of the Corniche butts right up to the water, while other areas have large beaches and play areas for the kids.
Walking path along the Corniche:
Randy says it looks almost like Destin, FL on the Corniche. I told him, "Yep, just like it, minus the 30 foot tall billboard of the Sheikhs. (pronounced Shake)
One of the many gazebos along the Corniche. On weekends and evenings, the place is packed.
Flowers are everywhere here and they do an excellent job of keeping everything manicured and full of color.
Artem has gone from compliant subject for me to photograph, to a picture hungry, "cheese" saying, little boy. I had the camera out taking pictures of the scenery and I heard him saying, "CHEESE!" over and over again trying to get my attention so I would take his picture.
I think this is about all I can handle right now for an update. Please forgive the typos as spell check does not work for some reason when I'm here in Abu Dhabi. I'm still trying to get adjusted to the time zone. Artem has been waking up at 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. every night and sleeping until 11:00 a.m. until I finally wake him up. In the afternoons the jet lag is taking it's toll on him even though we ask him if he's tired and he says, "no mim" (ma'am). I think the jet lag won in this picture! Bless his little heart.
I'll have more for you in a few days along with some of the funny signs I've seen here in Abu Dhabi. The signing commission here must really have a sense of humor!
This map is the general area that UAE is in:
This map is a little closer and you can see the proximity to Dubai:
Artem and I arrived Friday night into Dubai after a pleasant and uneventful flight, minus Artem throwing up the chocolate shake he shared with me two hours prior in the airport, but other than that, Artem was a great traveller, did fantastic on the six hour layover in Atlanta and slept nine hours of the sixteen hour flight from Atlanta to Dubai. I could not have asked for more.
We are settling in nicely to our new place in Abu Dhabi. You might remember that our first home here was a seven bedroom, nine bathroom villa in a neighborhood without expats, only locals, and I was very lonely and bored. The new "flat" as they call them here, is in a very desireable location downtown and there will be plenty for Artem and I to do. As a matter of fact, tomorrow morning I have my first coffee with the Abu Dhabi Women's group and I'm hoping to meet some new people to get together with.
Below is a picture of our building, it's called the Abela building even though it has a giant Damac sign on top. On the first floor of the building there is a grocery store called Abela's and that's where it gets it's name. Look on the top floor, all the way to the right, and you'll see our balcony and flat. It's a two-story flat and a fairly good size. It's not a 7 bedroom villa, but we've managed to fit. *insert sarcasm*
We have a live-in maid in our new place. Her name is Priyanti and she's from Sri Lanka and I have no idea why I did not get a live-in sooner!! If you don't have a live-in maid, I HIGHLY recommend you getting one and fast. She keeps this place spotless, literally, and as soon as I put dirty dishes in the sink, she cleans them. She mops and dusts constantly, the garbage in the bathroom is emptied daily, and tonight she was misting and dusty the leaves on the plants. At our house in Texas, my fake plants are lucky if they get put outside once every two years to let the central Texas winds blow them clean. Priyanti would faint if she saw the dust bunnies that lurk under our couch and heaven help her if she saw the top of the entertainment center; a small herb garden could thrive in the amount of dust that's on there. I don't know what I'm going to do when I have to return to reality back in the states. I wonder how Priyanti feels about America??
Back to the grocery store at the bottom of our building...I went shopping today with Artem and bought as much "western" food as I could. Grape Nuts, Campbell's soup, Oscar Meyer hotdogs (no Kosher hotdogs Stef), Cheetos, and assorted fruits and vegetables. It's fairly easy to have a taste of home here but the thing I love most about the groceries here are the fruits, they are delicious and much better than what we get in the states. Today I bought grapes, tomatos, and plums and they were all so good. They import the majority of their fruits and vegetables and label them according to what country they came from. I find that I don't buy any from the states as they aren't as tasteful as some of the other countries they import from like Holland, China, and Africa. When we leave I will miss the fruit. Anyway, I check out and get ready to lug all my bags upstairs and the bagger starts to push my buggy. I told him I had to carry them myself as I did not drive and he points up and says, "What room?" I didn't know our flat number and told him such and he starts to push the buggy anyway and pushed all my bagged groceries right into our lobby, up in the elevator, and straight to my door. He stood at my door and unloaded all my bags. I tell you, between a live-in maid and a man that delivers my groceries to my door, a girl could get used to this life!! You gotta love how service oriented UAE is and you know, when in Rome...
Our building:
Our new flat is right next to the Corniche, which was recently "remodeled" and is a heavily used area. The Corniche runs the length of the Persian Gulf and is made up of gardens, bike and running trails, and my favorite spot on the Corniche...Baskin Robbins! I took Artem out today in the jogging stroller and we went for a spin on the Corniche. We stopped at a smoothie shop and split a strawberry/orange smoothie while sitting outside watching the waves roll in. It was heaven and was one of those moments where time kind of stood still and I just looked at Artem in amazement at what an incredible son we have been blessed with.
Here are a few pictures of the Corniche. Some of the Corniche butts right up to the water, while other areas have large beaches and play areas for the kids.
Walking path along the Corniche:
Randy says it looks almost like Destin, FL on the Corniche. I told him, "Yep, just like it, minus the 30 foot tall billboard of the Sheikhs. (pronounced Shake)
One of the many gazebos along the Corniche. On weekends and evenings, the place is packed.
Flowers are everywhere here and they do an excellent job of keeping everything manicured and full of color.
Artem has gone from compliant subject for me to photograph, to a picture hungry, "cheese" saying, little boy. I had the camera out taking pictures of the scenery and I heard him saying, "CHEESE!" over and over again trying to get my attention so I would take his picture.
I think this is about all I can handle right now for an update. Please forgive the typos as spell check does not work for some reason when I'm here in Abu Dhabi. I'm still trying to get adjusted to the time zone. Artem has been waking up at 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. every night and sleeping until 11:00 a.m. until I finally wake him up. In the afternoons the jet lag is taking it's toll on him even though we ask him if he's tired and he says, "no mim" (ma'am). I think the jet lag won in this picture! Bless his little heart.
I'll have more for you in a few days along with some of the funny signs I've seen here in Abu Dhabi. The signing commission here must really have a sense of humor!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Scrappy the 5th, 6th, 7th?
I love to work in the yard. It's like therapy for me. When I have a lot on my mind I pull weeds; strange I know but it beats a six pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon, don't you think?
When Randy and I built this house my friend Tiffany and I drew up the landscape design for my yard on a beverage napkin from Texas Roadhouse. Truly amateur work!
My absolute favorite plants in the front yard are my two Gardenia bushes. One of the Gardenia plants that I put in was the scraggliest, scrappiest thing I've ever seen. It was not a show stopper by any means but I affectionately named it Scrappy (really original) and babied it to the point that Scrappy became a beautiful bush that produced literally hundreds of decadent smelling blooms, until a couple years ago when an ice storm came in while I was still at work and Scrappy was no longer. *if you'll bow your heads for a moment of silence* The other Gardenia bush right next to it survived and has gone on to be huge and beautiful.
If this doesn't work, I will be convinced that the spirit of Scrappy the 1st has tainted the soil and I will not have any other choice but to call in a Native American Medicine Man and have them cleanse the tainted soil. Hopefully when Artem and I return to Texas at the end of May, my newest babies will be alive and kicking, instead of in the trash can.
Artem is my best helper in the yard. He loves toget into everything make my job easier by cleaning up the leaves. For the record, he asked to wear the gloves.
When Randy and I built this house my friend Tiffany and I drew up the landscape design for my yard on a beverage napkin from Texas Roadhouse. Truly amateur work!
My absolute favorite plants in the front yard are my two Gardenia bushes. One of the Gardenia plants that I put in was the scraggliest, scrappiest thing I've ever seen. It was not a show stopper by any means but I affectionately named it Scrappy (really original) and babied it to the point that Scrappy became a beautiful bush that produced literally hundreds of decadent smelling blooms, until a couple years ago when an ice storm came in while I was still at work and Scrappy was no longer. *if you'll bow your heads for a moment of silence* The other Gardenia bush right next to it survived and has gone on to be huge and beautiful.
If this doesn't work, I will be convinced that the spirit of Scrappy the 1st has tainted the soil and I will not have any other choice but to call in a Native American Medicine Man and have them cleanse the tainted soil. Hopefully when Artem and I return to Texas at the end of May, my newest babies will be alive and kicking, instead of in the trash can.
____________________________________________________________
Artem is my best helper in the yard. He loves to
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
So Excited
Artem and I are headed back to Abu Dhabi a week from now and this time I have promised myself that my UAE experience will be better than the last time. I was so lonely last time since I did not have one friend. But we are in a much better location now and I'm making an effort to make friends and get out of the house and see what kind of trouble activities I can do.
I am so excited to be registered for a photography class in Dubai. There is a photography exhibition/convention in Dubai the end of March into the beginning of April and they have top notch photographers coming in from all over the world to teach classes. I am enrolled in a beginner class (I'm not too proud to admit that) and I'm so excited to have this opportunity to learn more about photography. The only down side is I have to drive to Dubai BY MYSELF!! Eek! Dubai driving makes Abu Dhabi driving look tame and makes Moscow driving look like a street full of little nuns in horse and buggy. Makes my heart pound and my hands sweat just thinking about it. On second thought, maybe I'll take a taxi.....and a Valium.
This is my instructor Chris Hurtt. If only 1/100th of his talent could rub off on me... Have I mentioned how excited I am???
I am so excited to be registered for a photography class in Dubai. There is a photography exhibition/convention in Dubai the end of March into the beginning of April and they have top notch photographers coming in from all over the world to teach classes. I am enrolled in a beginner class (I'm not too proud to admit that) and I'm so excited to have this opportunity to learn more about photography. The only down side is I have to drive to Dubai BY MYSELF!! Eek! Dubai driving makes Abu Dhabi driving look tame and makes Moscow driving look like a street full of little nuns in horse and buggy. Makes my heart pound and my hands sweat just thinking about it. On second thought, maybe I'll take a taxi.....and a Valium.
This is my instructor Chris Hurtt. If only 1/100th of his talent could rub off on me... Have I mentioned how excited I am???
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