18 Days In... The Good, The Bad and The Downright Disgusting

2011 has only been here for 18 days, but already it has given us a run for our money...

It began with the downright disgusting, and it was, so I will keep the details to a minimum. Will - stomach bug, multiple episodes of exploding excrement. After one episode, I really missed being able to hose stuff down out on our driveway.

In the midst of the above episodes, Nate and I came down with colds/allergy attacks/double ear infections (Nate) and Will decided to stop eating and drinking due to a sore throat and teething. After a trip to the medical clinic for all of us, we began dosing up on lots of prescriptions, and are starting to see some improvement. Nate hopes to have his hearing back soon...

Also, one day after school I was in a meeting in the classroom next door and returned to find a couple of random bills lying on the floor next to my wallet. Yep, I was robbed. And of course, it was the day I actually had some cash in my wallet - I had just been reimbursed by the school for our previously mentioned Oman visa run. I flagged down our secretary, and she enlisted the aide of the head of security, and all the workers were searched. One of them had the money hidden in his sock. Yikes. Another day, Nate accidentally left a pen in his pocket, and despite some internet ideas for ink removal, we both lost a piece of our wardrobes.

Now for some of the good... Will's new tooth finally came through today, and he is eating and drinking again! As can be inferred from above, I did get my money returned, and thanks to my illness reduced appetite, I've lost a couple of pounds. I've gotten flowers twice - once from the office for helping out in a pinch, and today, some beautiful roses from Nate for my birthday. Also, today was an early release day, so classes were short and sweet, I got to wear jeans, and my classes who sang to me did a pretty good job. I got a surprising number of birthday wishes from friends at school - the emails just kept popping up throughout the day, so it was nice to know I have made friends here.

In our visit to the medical clinic, we got an update on Will's growth - he weighs 12.6 kg (26 lbs) and is 86 cm (33 3/4 inches) tall. He can almost say the word crocodile - yes really, and he loves strawberry milk in a box. He loves to give kisses - to us, and to his books, and to his animals. The accompanying sound effect is my favorite part. He has warmed up to the intimidating inflatables - one night he had even pulled the head of the camel into his crib with his other animals. I got to Skype with my sister and nephews for awhile last night, and it was fun to have a one on one chat with Austin. He's in 7th grade, and is learning about Dubai in his geography class, so he had lots of questions about life here. My good list has superceded the bad and the disgusting, so all in all, we are coming out on top. Happy New Year to all...