One Daily Positive Week 4 and a tour of Dubai.

Last week I told you a little bit about myself, this week I'll introduce the children. As the year goes on they'll all feature in the blog and you'll be left wondering where these 'adults' have come from.

Child 1 and 2 are my step children, but we've all lived together since May 2000. Initially in 2 houses until Peter and I married in 2002. They consider themselves to have 3 brothers and 1 sister and refer to us as 'the parents' although the youngest calls me Suzanne, which seems to be a family trait as I always called my father by his first name and no one has any idea why.

Child 1 has profound learning disabilities, is 30 next month and she lives in a care home in the UK. Child 2 is 28 and 2a are getting married in June. Child 3 is 25 and 3a moved to Australia mid 2017 and are currently traveling and working their way around, they should be passing through Dubai in October. Child 4 is 23 and left home 4 years ago, leaving me with empty nest syndrome and a huge gap to fill. He's in the lives with 4a. Child 5, aged 18, lives in our flat in South Wales and finished his education in boarding school in the UK from the age of 13. He is waiting for security clearance on his first job offer.

21 Sunday I've pretty much done all the jobs for January, was going to clean the balconies today but it's very windy, so pointless sweeping sand around. I sorted through some family photo's, tidied the rubbish from the garden, read blogs and commented and headed off to the Marina to take some up to date photo's for my theme of buildings 'now and then' for My Sunday Photo for next week.

22 Monday I had a coffee date with an instagram friend, after ironing, changing the beds, emptying the dishwasher, walking Bob, watering the garden and getting the car cleaned.

23 Tuesday Child 4 turned 24 today, there was a virtual birthday cake sent by photo and money deposited into his bank and a quick phone call. Sadly still no Skype in Dubai, it's at times like this I get upset. Peter's car needed servicing so he took mine to work and I hung around for the day, catching the train into Old Dubai and the Mall of Emirates until it was ready for collection at 5pm.

24 Wednesday I spent the day cleaning the house and some time in the garden blogging. I've been letting the cat out on a lead, she gets spooked easily with the traffic and runs back inside. I went to the pub for dinner at 7pm then some friends joined me for the pub quiz which we won.

25 Thursday I took Bob to the dog park and he went swimming after an hour of me throwing and him chasing the ball. Popped out to Ibn Battuta Mall to buy some warmer clothing for the evenings as I left all my winter clothing in the UK. In the evening we went out for dinner at The Beach and watched the fireworks that they've held every weekend for January for the Dubai Shopping Festival which comes to an end on Saturday.

26 Friday Intended to go to the beach this morning but woke up to heavy fog and Peter had arranged to spend time with a colleague who is moving to Dubai, so I joined them looking on a sightseeing tour of potential living areas. Went to Dubai Mall in the afternoon. Had invited friends to join us for a BBQ but they never replied to the message.

27 Saturday Had a call to go to the Doctors the other side of town for repeat WBC counts and was early so drank my coffee on the beach to complete the full tour of Dubai for the week. Spent the rest of the day in the garden. Peter decided we should test the garden out fully and we had a BBQ. 

On the blog this week:

My Sunday Photo - Dubai Frame

PoCoLo - Creating a Garden in the desert

Tweens Teens Beyond and Triumphant Tales - Why do i share so much stuff online?

Week 38 - One Daily Positive and Project 366

It's autumn in Dubai, how do we know? The lowest temp recorded this week was 26c, you have no idea how much of a relief it is for every one. It means the cold water out of the tap is no longer too hot to shower in. We can sit outside in the evenings and we don't have to put the air con on in a room if we're only going to be in there a few minutes.

Sunday - Yes. Peter was away in Egypt, so I took advantage of some early nights all week.

Monday - Computer. I still prefer good old fashioned pen and paper to plan with.

Tuesday - Food. Spent the evening in the nail bar, this was all that was in the fridge.

Wednesday - Flexible. I'm not flexible, I just adapt. I've been pushed to the limits at work this week and I've said no more. I'm also struggling to get up off the floor in class and have been suffering with quite a few headaches recently.

Thursday - Mood. Feeling the same as the cat right now, just want to eat, sleep and for people to get out of my face.

Friday - Autumn. Cause for celebration, it's noticeably cooler first thing in the mornings and last thing at night.

Saturday - Colour. Knitted decorations for the Palm trees at City Walk.

Week 1 - One Daily Positive and Project 366.

Happy New Year and welcome to Project 366 for 2016. This year my SnapHappyBritMums and FMSPhotoADay photos are running as separate posts, as much fun as I had combining 2 photo prompts into One Daily Positive, I'm now teaching full time and just won't be able to keep up. 

Project 366 photos will now reflect what I've actually done during my week, rather than a series of random photo's.

The #teen has returned to the UK, the month has flown by so quickly. Child 3 of 5, The Jamie, is here till Wednesday and both boys are out again in February/March. I received fantastic feedback from my first weeks' planning at school, so I know I'm on the right track and hopefully this week will be a bit easier and I can get some more sleep.

Day 1 ‪
#‎onedailypositive‬ welcoming these wonderful people and making a financial and clothing donation to the victims of the floods in the Philippines ‪#‎project366‬

Day 2 

#onedailypositive #project366 Peter and I being tourists for the day with 2 of our children in Dubai taking the Ferry from the Marina to The Creek. 

Day 3 

#onedailypositive #project366 back at school and little time to take photos. I took 4 of the rain and 2 'back to school' pics and this one. I find it very difficult to unwind and relax if there are chores to be done, although Peter said he'd clean the kitchen after he finished watching Sherlock with the boys, I just couldn't leave it, I then walked the dog and had a bath before watching YouTube vids and blogging. 

My Sunday Photo is of the smouldering Address Hotel 22 hours after the fire started and videos of the Dubai firework displays, we viewed from the beach at the bottom of our road.

Day 4 

#onedailypositive #project366 I have to leave for work at 6.15am Sunday till Thursday, hubby is on leave so I've got into a little routine of getting ready in the guest bathroom so not to wake him, in exchange he's cooking dinner every evening, back to normal at the end of next week once the kids go back to the UK

Day 5

 #onedailypositive #project366 despite the day ending with a migraine and with me working full time I've hardly taken any photos, but I did catch the sun rise this morning at 6.50am when I arrived at work, in bed now with 2 heat pads for my head and the fan on too cool me down, hubby did laugh when I made my requests, it is nice to be looked after

For Animal Tales this week I give you When Bob met Santa

Day 6

#onedailypositive #project366 it wasn't that long ago that the kids would be fighting over this, wanting to take it home and keep it as a souvenir of their travels. Now the #teen hops on a plane on his own for the school holidays. We've hardly seen the 23yo the past two days on his first visit to Dubai as he's out on the town with his mates who just happen to be here at the same time.

Day 7

#onedailypositive #project366 After my first full week in work after 5 years and getting up at 5.15 every morning, all I wanted to do was sleep, but the#teen wanted a walk on the beach before he returns to the UK tomorrow, how could I say no? We live 1km from the beach, we found crabs and shells, we paddled in the freezing water of the Arabian Gulf and made memories.

This weeks HDYGG is the progress of growing seeds in winter in Dubai

Day 8

#onedailypositive #project366 having dropped the #teen at the airport and a tearful goodbye from me, hubby and I walked around Dragon Mart 2, shopping for Minnion's and eating fish and chips for lunch. The #teen is back out end of March. The 23 yo is here till Wednesday then back over end of February and we have 3 sets of friends visiting in Feb and March.

Day 9

#onedailypositive #project366 with Peter and Jamie enjoying a late lunch @thewalkatjbr over looking the sea @thebeachdubai

Week 38 - Project 365

Last weeks travel has left me and hubby exhausted. We've flown into the UK for child 4 of 5 passing out parade in Catterick last Friday, it was a very proud parent moment, you can see a picture of us all for #MySundayPhoto. The week didn't get any quieter as we visited the kids, family and friends in Bristol, Gloucester, Lyme Regis whilst staying in South Wales and slotting in numerous coffee shop trips to meet up with people. This is only the 3rd time that hubby and I have been in the UK together since the end of 2010. We split our visits up during the year so the kids get to see us both as regular intervals, rather than just once a year. The youngest comes out for all the major holidays and hubby and I can split the shorter ones between us. We crossed over in the UK for a week in September 2013 when we were repairing thousands of pounds worth of damage to our house caused by our tenants. In November 2014 to sort out our papers to move to Dubai from South Africa and this trip.

Sunday was spent with child 1 of 5, Stephanie is profoundly disabled and lives in Gloucester. We collected her in the morning and drove down to Bristol to visit Granny in her new home and to borrow Granny's car for the week. Although I have my mums car to use while my parents are on holiday Monday till Friday, it isn't insured for hubby to drive and we do need to go off in opposite directions quite a bit. 

Day 256 #onedailypositive #wow #fmsphotoaday #cake #snaphappybritmums #project365 Today my plans to wander the shops and look for an amazing cake to photograph just didn't pan out as I had planned. I mentioned this to my mum who told me there was a cake in the kitchen I could photograph and actually eat.

Monday involved a 4 year old, in the shape of our niece, Olivia. We borrowed her from her mother for the day and took her to Tewkesbury to child 5 of 5 school to meet his new teachers in 6th form. The school has pigs and chickens and lots of open space, we had lunch out and then met up with friends and child 2 of 5 and his girlfriend in Monmouth for an early dinner. When we collected Olivia in the morning my 20 year old niece was visiting with her new born son Oliver, and her almost 2 year old, Elliot. There have been plenty of cuddles for everyone today.

Day 257 #onedailypositive #ImProudOfThis #fmsphotoaday #fun #snaphappybritmums #project365 I've raised 5 kids and I often wondered how hubby and I actually managed it and are still married, with our own teeth and full set of hair, albeit a little grey. We've been in charge of our 4yo niece who is currently sleeping in bed with me after a visit to a farm, a parents meeting at our youngest's school, getting caught in a torrential downpour, nearly divorcing after the 'can't fold the push chair in the pouring rain' incident and meeting child 2 of 5 with his girlfriend and friends for dinner in the local pub while our niece demanded a picnic under the table. Then returning home to make a bed for the dog (there isn't a dog where we are staying) drawing a picture of a dog that apparently was rubbish and was torn up, reading 3 books after brushing teeth and actually all 3 of us still alive.

Tuesday saw us collecting child 4 of 5 and heading off to Birmingham to watch City play Notts Forest. Child 3 of 5 warned me he would hunt me down if BCFC broke their winning streak. I'm now in hiding. For this weeks animal tales I introduced you to the real Chickenruby 

Day 258 #onedailypositive #ToMyLeft #fmsphotoaday #IAmReading#snaphappybritmums #project365 #bcfc #kro to my left is the Gil Merrick Stand & I've been reading the advertising

Wednesday morning was spent with social services, we've had a few concerns with our daughters care providers, not the staff, we can't fault them other than the extremely high turnover, but with the reality of the activities and staffing numbers in her bungalow, we then collected her and due to the weather spent the afternoon in ASDA as the floor is even, there are toilets and a cafe and we needed to pick up some toiletries and underwear for her. Child 4 of 5 met his cousin to go rock climbing and on our return to Monmouth we called in see our old neighbour for half an hour. I popped off to see Olivia while hubby cooked dinner for us and child 2 of 5 and his girlfriend.

Day 259 #onedailypositive #ToMyRight #fmsphotoaday#art #snaphappybritmums #project365 my niece and one of our drawings.

Thursday morning I nipped into Ross on Wye to meet an old school friend for our twice a year coffee, in the afternoon we drove to Abergavenny and had an early dinner on our way to the retail park in Newport to meet   our twitter friends @lady_wl and @welsh_si we called in at the Crematorium as it's the 10th anniversary of my Grans death in October and took her some flowers. This weeks Time Traveller took me back to 2006 and a trip to Berlin with the kids. 

Day 260 #onedailypositive #INever #fmsphotoaday#lunchtime #snaphappybritmums #project365 I Never had lunch today, I just ate sweeties I bought after a visit to Ross on Wye this morning.

Friday was back to Gloucester to take child 1 of 5 out into town for lunch, we then called in at child 5 of 5 school. We spent Friday night with another set of friends at their house for dinner and to watch the opening of the Rugby World Cup. For How does your garden grow this week it was a visit to the Mall of Emirates and bringing the garden indoors. 

Day 261 #onedailypositive #MyOwn #fmsphotoaday #SaturdayRelax I haven't been on my own for a week now as hubby and I tour the UK the Saturday relax prompt came a day early and I've been so busy today (Friday) I missed the photo prompt and it's actually now Saturday. Anyway I'm now on my own as hubby is asleep and I'm colouring in relaxing.

Despite a late night, it was up early on Saturday and off to Lyme Regis for the weekend to see hubbies oldest friend and while they went off on the friends boat and deep sea fishing, the wife and I wandered around Bridport tea, craft and gift shops, had lunch on a farm and joined them in the evening for a beer and fish and chips. 

Day 262 #onedailypositive #candy #fmsphotoaday #religion #snaphappybritmums #project I'm religious about my approach to eating my candy.