Life is a Fantasy....

I wish.  If my life matched my fantasy world, I would be living rent-free, teaching kids who had respect, be able to have a parent at home with the baby, and not have to deal with my ex on a daily basis.  Oh wait.  That's coming in August!!!

That's right.  When we move to Abu Dhabi, our housing will be paid for, my substantially higher income will be tax free, my husband will be home with the baby, and I'll be thousands of miles away from the ex.  Hurray!

But the real fantasy right now is fantasy baseball.  I still can't believe I'm crazy enough to attempt to manage a fantasy baseball team, but it should be interesting.  I did manage to snag Evan Longoria and David Price, so I'm in good shape there.  I do love baseball.  I love everything about the game.  Some may say that the pace is too slow, but for me it's a chance to slow down and enjoy the ride.  We all move way too fast in this world nowadays that it's a good idea to go slow. 

Again, linking back to Abu Dhabi:  Life there is apparently done at a different speed than life here.  If I felt inspired, I could list some ways that baseball, is, indeed, like Abu Dhabi (lucky thing I feel inspired):

1. The game/country goes at its own pace:  Don't even try to speed things up.  You'll just end up making the fans mad and compromising the integrity of the game. 

2. When the superstars show up, just try and stay out of their way.  I've heard that the royal family rides around in cars with crowns on the license plates.  Everyone pulls off to let them through.  Kind of like when Derek Jeter or Chris Davis takes the plate and the pitcher decides to intentionally walk them rather than risk a home run.

3. You have to immerse yourself in the culture:  In the words of Crash Davis from Bull Durham, "You have to know your cliches."  Accept the fact that you will have to cover shoulders and knees, that people will drive crazy, and that everything will be different from America.

4.  On the other hand, don't be afraid to be yourself.  Just as every batter has a distinctive swing, every person has a creative and independent way of looking at the opportunities in Abu Dhabi.  Some will travel, some will try new foods, and some will try and keep things as close to "normal" as possible.  Everyone's way of coping is legitimate.

5.  Finally, remember it's not over till it's over.  Baseball games, as much as I love them, can stretch on interminably at times.  But eventually it will end and there will be a winner.  I am sure that Abu Dhabi will strain my patience at times, but when it's over, my family and I will be the winners.  We will have savings, be debt free, have lots of stamps in our passports and so many valuable experiences and memories that will last for the rest of our lives. 

The Slippery Slope

Well, we are on the other side of spring break and it's time for that quick trip to summer vacation.  Every year in August I tell the eighth graders how quickly their year will pass, and they laugh and say, No, Miss, school takes forever.  And then it's suddenly winter break, then spring break, then graduation.  This past week has zoomed by, and everyone I've asked has agreed.  Funny.

So to prepare myself for my overseas experience, I'm going to write about a typical day in my life here in Florida.  Some of the more infomative posts I've read from others have taken this kind of format, so it's worth it to practice.  Here's yesterday:

Woke up to my iPhone alarm at 5:20 am yesterday.  After taking a shower, getting dressed and doing my hair, I woke up my husband so he could start getting ready as well.  While I get ready, he is snuggling our three and a half month old so she'll stay asleep and not want to nurse till I'm ready for her. 

I then make sure my 17 year old is up and getting ready, and wake up my 14 year old for school.  The baby and I head downstairs, where I pop a bagel in the toaster, pour a large Tervis tumbler of iced tea (heavy on the ice), take the four 3 oz bottles from the fridge and put them in the insulated pocket of the diaper bag, and go back to butter the toasted bagel.  Then the baby and I head for the living room, where I change her diaper, get her dressed, and nurse her on one side while pumping on the other, while eating my breakfast and watching the Fox 13 news (love those guys). 

When the baby's done and I've pumped about 3 oz, we stop to burp and she and I have a little fun time.  Her favorite activity right now is being held and talked to, and she loves talking back to me and smiling. It really puts me in a great mood before I have to leave her for the day, because I know that she's a happy girl who just loves interaction, and she definitely gets that with her babysitter.  At this point it's about 6:15 or so, and my son is usually puttering around getting his lunch ready and remembering one last item he's forgotten for school.  His father picks him up around 6:35, so sometimes he has time to visit with me and the baby before leaving.  My 14 year old comes down to put her stuff for the next two days in her father's car, and comes back to hang out and watch a little more news. 

When the clock hits 6:50, it's time to start moving again.  The diaper bag is rechecked, school bags checked, and the pump and pieces are washed from the morning and put into the cooler bag for school.  I strap the baby in her bouncy seat, where she will entertain herself for a few minutes, head upstairs to kiss the hubs goodbye and head out to school with the 14 year old. 

After navigating some of the worst traffic and construction in our part of the suburbs, I drop off the 14 year old and make it to my school around 7:30.  I park the car, grab all my gear, and run upstairs to take notes on the middle school meeting we hold each Thursday.  Once the meeting's over, I run three doors down the hallway to get my classroom open and the morning show set up on my computer for homeroom, which starts at 8 am. 

Getting through the day is pretty routine.  I do have a pumping break from 10:50-11:10, where I pump in the nurse's office. All my main classes are before lunch at 1:10, so it helps the day go quickly.  After lunch, I pump during my planning period in my classroom, and then we have only the book club elective to go. 

Car line happens after seventh period, and it basically entails teachers supervising students on the outside sidewalk of the school while the parents line up to pick up the students.  We use a walkie-talkie system to announce who is getting picked up, so it usually goes pretty fast.  Since it's Thursday, I have intramural football after school.  I love coaching, especially football, so this is a fun hour for me.  We have our first "game" against the other team, and it ends in a tie.  Good!

I jump in my car and drive to the babysitter's house to pick up the baby.  Since I'm about half an hour later than usual because of football, she's asleep!  She wakes up quickly when she sees me, however, so I get my big smile from her :)

We stop at the Publix on the way home to get a few supplies for dinner (we are having breakfast for dinner, one of my favorites) and then meet Daddy at home.  After another nurse/pumping session on the couch, I fix dinner while the baby and Daddy spend time together.  Dinner usually gets eaten at the coffee table in the living room, but it tastes fantastic anyway.  By the time dinner's over, it's almost 8 pm.  We watch Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsay, I do the dishes, fill bottles for the next day, and do a load of diapers while watching the show.  The baby has fallen asleep by this point, so around 9:15 I head upstairs with her.  My husband comes up shortly afterward, puts on a movie, and we all fall asleep by 10 pm. Exciting life! 

And just writing all this down has made me exhausted, but it's an eye opener for me! 

Moving Forward

Well, I received my official offer letter from the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) and couldn't be more excited about it.  Now begins the work, and the tough choices about what to keep and what to get rid of.  I already know that I'm going to have to scan a giant mess of resources to take with me so that I have room in my luggage for important items.  I was reading some advice about what to take and what to leave (Thanks, Abu Dhabi PTA!).  Here's some of the things that WILL be taking the journey with me:

Tampa Bay Rays Tervis tumblers (I'm pretty sure they don't have Tervis in AD, and anything Rays would definitely be a stretch)
Big Tupperware iced tea pitcher (do they even sell Tupperware anymore?)  Seriously, this pitcher has practical and sentimental value, as it is the perfect size for three tea bags that have been steeped and it's just like my dad's old pitcher :)
The white plastic spatula (it's perfect for my two favorite spatula foods - pancakes and Rice-A-Roni)

In the last few years, I've had to make these decisions three times: once, when moving out of my house prior to the divorce, second, when moving from the apartment to our current house, and now.  We will be getting a storage unit for my books, but I will be paring down that collection as well, since I don't want to take up the entire unit (and probably could).  As a semi-practicing Buddhist, I know that material objects should be the least of my concerns, and hopefully this journey helps me break away from things.  The only objects I am truly attached to are my books, however, and in the grand scheme of things they are probably not the worst thing to collect.

In other news, I told the ex about the new job and his "initial reaction was no, I don't agree to that".  So we start. Hopefully the kids can stand the pressure.  They really seem excited to go, but if they can't stand up to their father on this one, then they will be stuck here while we go overseas.  It'll be a true test of their will. 

Jon is getting antsy about telling his work - I think he's more excited than I am.  It'll be good to see how he handles being Mr. Mom.  The rest of the plan for this week includes telling family and friends about the move and starting to cull the book collection.  We have spring break next week so that will definitely be some good downtime for me to accomplish several of the things on my master list. 

Have a good rest of the week!