Casting my mind back to October happenings...
October seemed to consist of a lot of work...when quite frankly it is just not the month in which I can afford to be too busy, as it's the crazy birthday month! This year was somewhat a little different considering most of my near and dears whose birthdays are in October, were all far and wide this time. Apart from my lovely hubby of course.
So with my end of year research project looming (and as you should be used to reading by now, I had left things a little late for a project of this size, causing unnecessary panic and ridiculously long, stressfull nights), it unfortunately left me very unorganised for my special someone's big day (and rather shamefully so, after the spoiling I got from him for my birthday). I did however manage to make him a quick breakfast (his favourite meal of the day) of waffles (to make a change to the usual fry up, although note to self, not quite his favourite kind of breakfast...) before heading off to work. I also managed to get a reservation at a lovely restaurant in the Madinat called Pai Thai (to which we caught an Abra (a gondolier/mini dhow) along the Madinat waterways to the restaurant), sat outside on the deck (which extends out into the water), in what is a lovely romantic setting. To add insult to injury the evening was unfortunately short lived as Mark started to feel ill just before our dinner arrived, which resulted in a table move inside where it was cooler (October was still quite a scorcher), to try and enjoy his complimentary birthday cake... but with no joy, we had to make a quick getaway (by golf cart this time, as the waterways aren't exactly the quickest means of transport).
My other idea for his birthday celebrations was a diving weekend away, but in my unorganised state I had left booking the hotel too late (considering it was a long weekend) and everything was already booked. We then changed it from a 'diving weekend' to ‘diving day', so you can imagine the final cherry on the top when Mark awoke still feeling sick, leaving no option but to forgo this option too.
I am pleased to say though, that it wasn't all completely in vain, as I have since received the results for my reseach project, as well as my final overall year end results for my last course and thankfully my 'good result' streak continued and passed with 71% overall. Woohoo! Yay Me!
November, November...can I remember?
November was quite a busy month which entailed a few friendly visitors. Firstly we had a visit from Aunty Angela and Uncle Phil from the UK for a few days and as the theme goes when we have visitors, we indulged in lots of good food and good wine with the good company. The Meat Company near the Dubai Fountains, Beachcombers at the Jumeriah Beach Hotel, overlooking the Burj Al Arab and an interesting evening at Aprons and Hammers (on a stationery dhow for the messy affair of buckets of delicious crabs and prawns...and the necessary aprons).
Mark and I also went to watch the Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi (with games, cars and merchandise galore and even some concerts), making it an experience not to be forgotten and certainly one our ‘ears’ won’t forget in a hurry (green moulded ear plugs and all).
We had a few more friendly visitors, this time from down under....Marion and PJ, who were in town to jet set half way around the world with their air hostess daughter (the lovely Carol).
And as if things weren't busy enough, I started an introductory photography course to finally learn a thing or two about my DSLR camera…only a year late (if you remember I got the manual as my 'paper' part of our first wedding anniversary gift and subsequently the camera). It's been something I have wanted to do for an age, but never had a good time to do it in....so the mantra 'no time like the present' had to come into effect.
December...definitely the silly month in more ways than one
Things at work picked up considerably. With half the management from the Australian office (well it felt like half the management anyway) coming across to Dubai to sort out a few things here, which obviously impacted on me and my workload (quite substantially...even a 4.30am start one day). The last few stragglers lingered on for a bit, only leaving just a few days before Christmas.
Mark and I went to watch the Rugby Sevens with Carol and her folks (Aussies). Patrick (Carol's boyfriend, a Kiwi) was playing in a local team, the Multiplex Murauders (who won within their league). The Saffa, Aussie and Kiwi competition was on in full force...too bad none of the teams ended up in the finals.
Mark and I celbrated our 2nd wedding anniversary with a couple of celebratory dinners...firstly at the lovely Zuma restaurant a little earlier than the 19th. We then re-celebrated on the day itself (with my mom who was in town) with yet another dinner, this time at Ping Pong near the Dubai Fountains, and then if that wasn't enough, we celebrated again with Sue and my mom on their final evening in Dubai with dinner at Pai Thai (this time Mark managed to make it the whole way through dinner) :)
As mentioned, my mom came to visit for her first time to Dubai (and yes her camera made it's Dubai debut), which allowed me a few days off work, to enjoy copious amounts of Christmas shopping and a couple of tourist attactions with her.
During my week off, I had one day back in the office, only to come back to rather an unusual situation, whereby my boss had been asked to step down from his position as CEO. Hmmm...yes...all very interesting!
We also had a visit from Sue, who was stopping over for a few days on her way back to the UK for Christmas with her family there. So Mark took some time off work too, for us all to enjoy a few days off together, keeping very busy with the likes of dhow cruises, Atlantis, Christmas markets, Dragon Market, Global Village, Aquariums, the Burj Khalifa, shopping malls galore and so the list continues...
Mark and I tried our hand at skydiving (well the indoor one anyway), which was quite hilarious! Mark and I were 2 of 3 adults and the rest were all little teeny teeny boppers (ah, the joys of having absolutely no fear). Our instructor was quite entertaining and I really quite enjoyed it (apart from the feeling of having 'water up my nose?'), but I can't quite say I would be ready to try my hand at the real thing anytime soon. (Please do note my hair before and after...sticking out from all holes possible in the helmut, which meant it took about 20 min to get all the knots out after we were finished!) heehee
The mom's who initially thought they might give the i-fly a try, decided against it at the last minute. They did however give Ski Dubai a go...experiencing snow in the desert... by riding the chairlift! Definitely an authentic experience! :)
Both mom's left 2 days before Christmas (and because Christmas is not a religious holiday here and it fell on a Sunday (a work day here) and considering I had no annual leave left) I went into work for a couple of hours on Christmas Day. :( To make Christmas even stranger this year (since everything carries on as normal), Mark and I went to watch the new Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol movie on Christmas Day (the one filmed partly in Dubai). Having just been to the Burj Khalifa with my mom a few days before (where the lookout deck is on the 124th floor), my stomach just churned at the thought of Tom Cruise actually scaling the Burj walls from the 130th floor… CRAZY!
I am pleased to say that not all was lost for Christmas this year...by the time the mom’s left, what had started out as quite a ‘barren’ Christmas decorated house, had managed to capture the ‘festiveness’ of the season. We had a wire handmade 'African' Christmas tree, decorated with beautiful handmade beaded decorations (some were even handmade by my mom herself) which she had brought over. So a special thanks to both moms for all the presents they brought over (and thanks to all those who contributed too) to help making our Christmas as Christmassy as possible.
With Christmas now over and no more annual leave days left for me, the last few days of the year will be spent at work, regardless of the fact that I am officially ‘bossless’. I guess, there really is a first time for everything...
And before we know it, we will be saying good-bye to 2011 (thankfully in a little more traditional way than our Christmas Day). Mark and I shall celebrate bringing in the New Year on a boat in the Dubai Marina and funny enough ending up ultimately where we started off 2011 (at Barasti). I can’t say I’m too sad to say good-bye to 2011...whilst it’s been year of a lot of firsts, with plenty of excitement, trying new, fun and adventurous things in the desert; it has also brought its fair share of trials and tribulations along the way. So my wish for the New Year is that the uncertain times that we know are still in store for us in 2012 are short lived this time, and in spite of their disruptiveness, I hope we continue to grow stronger together by making more loving and happy memories on our next adventure...wherever that may be.
Best wishes to everyone for the New Year. I hope it is a happy and prosperous one for you all, filled with lots of good health and the making of happy and magical memories in 2012.
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