'Bout Time I Blogged.

You know how it is.  

I've been busy, alright!  Well kinda.

Last Monday Lyndon and I celebrated 13 years together, so I lashed out and bought some lovely new perfume I had been eyeing off for myself...

and we all went out to dinner at the Shangri-La for the Buffet, which was delicious.  And rather filling to say the least. 

Monet finished up Kindergarten last Tuesday and when I picked her up, she looked like this, my own beautiful butterfly...

Even though she only did a term of Nursery School she is off to Primary School come late August.  Or is that late September?  The Government can't seem to make up their minds in regards to the school year starting - during or after Ramadan?  That is the question.  I hope it is answered soon.  Then I know if Monet has 9 weeks Summer holidays or 12.  Hey, what's 3 weeks? *smirk*

We've been craftin', bakin', cookin', singin' and shoppin' together since last week.

Monet has spent hours colouring-in (per usual) and making loads of Chinese paper lanterns (which now hang down the staircase on homemade paper chains).  We've changed her room around, watched DVDs together (too many Barbie movies, Three Pigs and a Baby, A Night at the Museum #2 and Coraline - I love this movie!) and cleaned.  She's been a good helping hand to her 'big mumma'.

Me?  Just the usual.  

Been reading the Twilight series, watching DVD's (The Reader - better than I thought it would be, Angels & Demons - I preferred the book to the movie),  baking and cleaning, washing and sorting, (nesting!), entertaining the girl, Twittering, playing bloody addictive Scrabble on Facebook along with Farming!, changing the bedrooms around (Lyndon helped of course), whinging about my size, spending, visits to my Syrian Dentist (root canals don't hurt after the nerve has died - they just hurt the hip pocket), and visits to my Iraqi Doctor for regular pregnancy checkups. (Hopefully nine more weeks to go!)  Been building up our supply of Vegemite (there has been a clear shortage of the stuff over the past few months, so when I spy a jar it must be bought!) and we were glad when our order of a box of 'Export Quality' Four & Twenty Beef Pies arrived via the Dubai AFL club! (Trust me, Meat Pies have never tasted so bloody good - and I am not usually one to enjoy a pie!)

You know how it is when it is 50 degrees outside.  

(A quick word on the weather.  Yeah, it is hot, but you must remember that homes over here have been built to handle such conditions.  It isn't like in Oz where when you have a few 40+ degree days in a row your house becomes like an oven (even with air con) - homes are made fully from concrete and (most) with ducted air conditioning.  You wouldn't even know it was 50 degrees out there when it is half the degrees inside...)  

A Taste of Rainbow.

I don't know what has happened lately, but I've been baking, baking, baking.  I've baked Pavlovas for neighbours...

...along with other bits and pieces I have been sharing (with two neighbours in particular, who seem to thrive on what I am baking!), including this yummy Apple Custard Tea Cake.

I have now even got Monet in on the act. She enjoys helping me and I have learnt to become more patient with her helping me.  

Yesterday I gave her the choice in helping me make either a 'Marble Cake' (ie, white, pink & choc) or a Rainbow Cake (using all the colours of the rainbow).  You can guess what she choose.

A simple cake which she helped measure and place the ingredients in my faithful mix master.  She particularly loves to sift the flour (I remember loving that job as a child too) and then hand mixing, without help from me.  We divided all the mixed raw ingredients into seven little bowls and I dyed them, with Monet mixing...

...We then placed teaspoon after teaspoon of mixed coloured ingredients into the cake tin and baked for an hour.

We frosted with chocolate icing and coloured sprinkles for a true rainbow effect, which kept the girl happy.  Tastes pretty darn good too...

A Pain In The Tooth!

Monet may be fine now (even though we had to take her off her medication - she was going crazeeee...) but it is my turn now.  Not that I am 'sick' and my pregnancy is going along well (29 weeks today!).  My problem has to do with this bloody mouth of mine.  Dental problems.  

No wonder Monet has had trouble with her teeth when she has Lyndon and I as parents.  (Poor #2!) 

My greatest fear is going to the dentist.  Silly I know, but I just don't like people looking in my mouth and then looking in my wallet for the payment.  Both seem to hurt.  But enough was enough and I had to bite the bullet.  Literally...

Since being pregnant with #2 my teeth became all sensitive.  I tried all different type of sensitive toothpastes, which helped somewhat.  Though in the past few weeks I had been finding it hard to chew and if you know me, well, I love my food and the thought of not being able to eat a full meal was killing me.  Then about 12 days ago I felt something lodged in my tooth (thankfully a side-to-the-back-one).  I pried it with my tongue, and what do you know?  Part of my tooth fell out.  There was only one word I said and we can all guess what that word was.  (Begins with an 'f' and ends in a 'k' - yes, feck!)

I rang the dentist at our local hospital and made an appointment - I knew I couldn't live with a gaping hole in my tooth when pregnant and I knew I would get toothaches.  I was right on that, let me tell you!

So last night was D-Day for me.  I faced my fear.  I went in.  I told the dentist I was scared.  He (tried) to be gentle on me and my tooth.  With as little pain killer as possible he went in and said two words I was dreading .... "root canal".  F**k.  

I'd rather give birth than have a root canal.  At least when you give birth you get a wonderful present at the end.  With a root canal you get pain and a hefty bill.  Hey, I guess both are quite the same aren't they when I put it like that...  

He put in something to kill the nerve in my tooth (my God it hurt! - remembering I had minimal pain relief!) and I have to return late next week to begin the root canal which he will do slowly over time.  

So much to look forward to.  (Aren't you glad it is me and not you?)

Sick Girl

We had to take Monet to emergency last night, at one of our local hospitals.  Her body temp rose very quickly (was up past 39 degrees) so we went and got it all sorted.

Our girl has a case of tonsillitis.

She hadn't been herself for a couple of days.  We only noticed this when for two days in a row (yesterday and the day before that), after retuning from Kinder she sat on the couch and slept.  This *never* happens.

Her appetite had all but disappeared.  (This should have rang alarm bells for me!)

Yesterday after Kindy she fell asleep in the car.  When we got home she got on the couch and slept.  I took her temperature and discovered it a little higher than normal.  I checked it an hour later and it was a little higher again.  Then, at one stage, it had jumped by a degree within 30 minutes.  

Lyndon had literally just got home from work when I said "we're off to the hospital!" (said in a little panicky tone mind you!)  Lyndon didn't have time to change, let alone have a cool drink after being out in the heat all day.  

We were seen to rather promptly and they ended up putting Monet onto a drip of antibiotics (she was very brave, let me tell you!) and we left about 3 hours later.

Today she has been okay, but still not our normal girl.  It is a battle to get her to take her medication (you have no idea!) and for her to eat.  Her temp is running up and down but steady.  

We're meant to be going to see Barney tomorrow, but we won't be if I can't see a marked improvement in our little girl in the next 24 hours.  Sorry Monet.

(Photos taken last week in our little back yard.  Ahh, the fun of a sprinkler, just like the good old days!)

Where Else In The World...

...can you see Buckingham Palace?...

(I swear every time I have been there has been a sign at the front reading "Changing of the Guard on Tomorrow at 11:30am" - I have yet to see a proper Changing of the Guard in all the times I have been there.  It is a bit like the Ettamogah Pub painted sign that reads 'Free Beer Tomorrow" if you ask me!)

...Piccadilly Circus?...

...the Lions in Trafalgar Square?...

...the Horse Guards?...

...Downing Street?...

...Dinosaurs?...

...and Charles Darwin, all in the same city, on the same day?

You know how much we enjoy London and you all know how much I look forward to returning for a visit there again some day.  

(Good thing my sister lives there so I really don't need an excuse to visit again.)

There Was Movement At The Station...

...as I sit down to a big mug of steaming PG Tips tea, which I have to say, is probably the best brand tea I have tasted.  Those British sure know how to produce a good brew!

It is now just under 13 weeks to our impending due date of baby #2 and neither Monet, Lyndon nor myself can wait to meet and welcome this little person to our world.  It is a moover and groover baby who enjoys warm baths, cups of tea and a bit of music.  It enjoys it's big sister reading nightly stories (2 a night from Monet) and hugging (of kinds).  My heartburn has returned big time in the evenings but I have something to help with that but I am finding sleeping more and more a pain in the neck, or rather, a pain in the back - but I'll cope.  After all, it isn't forever is it?  (Or is it?)

I feel huge but you get all kinds of comments from people which I usually just take with a grain of salt - oh you aren't very big, man! you're huge... blah, blah, blah.  All I know is that I am now getting to the size as I was full term with Monet, but that is to be expected, right? Right???

I tried unsuccessfully to take a half decent photo of me and my BUMP so I will instead post one of me I took coming up to three weeks ago whilst in our hotel room in London. (Notice my short hair?  I still love my hair cut and will definetly be getting my new Australian hairdresser to give it a snip again in the very near future. Oh and btw, my bump now seems bigger than in this photo) 

We have a little organising and product purchasing (damn it) to do before this one pops out.  We don't have a cot which is our #1 priority, nor baby clothes.  It is kinda starting off fresh again though we have no grandparents to help make such purchases.  :-(  We've decided to buy a baby capsule for the car but it is hard to justify spending bucks on something that won't be used for a long time.  But it is needed here with Monet going to school and me starting my life as a taxi driver.  

We're also trying to work out the car situation.  Lyndon started working at a new job site, about a 15 or so minute drive up the road from us.  At the moment he is hitching a ride with a work colleague (what?  Car pooling in Abu Dhabi?  Who would've thunk that??) but we're unsure how long this will continue.  

It will all sort itself out in the end - it always seems to with Lyndon and I.

Okay, off now to satisfy this sweet tooth of mine by making a Caramel Mud Cake, taken from my new favourite cookbook I picked up in London.  (The Caramel Slice in this book is to die for.  My neighbours love it even more than I do!)  And speaking of great cookbooks, I also purchased this one in London too, so we've been enjoying some lovely curries as of late too! Mmmmm.....

How I Still Love Thee...

Remember I bought a new camera earlier on in the year?  I have taken quite a few shots with it, but only in the last few weeks have I really been using it.  Yeah, so I worked out what a lot of those functions were for!

I particularly like the editing functions it has in it (I can crop and still have a 10 mega pixel photograph of both the original and the cropped versions),  and if I told you how many times people have commented (emails, FB, blog, friends) on the photograph of Monet crossing the Millennium Bridge in her bright butterfly dress (whilst the rest is in black and white), I'd be a rich woman.  Kinda.  I have ordered a large canvas print of that photo and I hope it turns out as well as I imagine it.  (The Printing company director even emailed me to say how much he liked the photo.)

Before editing;

After editing;

Unfortunately I won't see the canvas print with my own eyes until we visit Oz so I am hoping my parents give it a good report once it arrives to their place. 

I very much like the following photo I took too, which I thought I would share with you.  I cropped it and coloured it via my Sony DSC T700.  I snapped it whilst eating breakfast at a London Pub, looking at the view outside the window.  I quite like it. 

I'm not saying that the camera is the ants pants but for a person like me, who is happy to snap away and fiddle with the results (whether on the camera or on the 'puter), then this camera quite suits me. 

Are you happy with your camera?

A Fortnight Already?!

I can't believe it was a fortnight ago today that Monet, my sister and I took a 40 minute cruise down the Thames from Richmond.  We were meant to have gone to Windsor for the day but some 'apparent' train derailment meant we couldn't reach our destination and so Richmond it had to be.

The three of us went to Richmond last year, but I remember we were all rugged up against the elements, but not on this weekend.  We basked in the sun for a good hour, people and bird watching along the Thames.  Truth be told, if we didn't have a young child with us, my sister and I could have sat on the park bench all day... (It was that nice and relaxing.)

A cruise was decided on so off we went, down to the Teddington Lochs and back, then for a touch of shopping on the High Street.  

We ended up going to meet up with Lyndon and Kim's partner T and an old friend of ours further up the Thames at Hammersmith for a drink and dinner, at a riverside pub.  We all giggled out loud when Monet's mini version of Bangers and Mash arrived at our table...

The following day Monet, Lyndon and I met Kim and we ventured off towards Hampstead Heath.  We didn't quite end up at Hampstead Heath but a big family park located close by.  It was warm weather, but just right for tramping through some London bushland (?)...

...and ending up at a playground where Monet went and played for a while (whilst we rested) and then, shock of all shocks, she came back saying "Okay, I've had a play, lets get going."  Man, that 'never' happens!!

For Dinner on that Sunday night we went here, to Dim T, at Gloucester Road, not far from our hotel.  It was delicious and the 3 courses we dined on was well deserved after our busy day out.