Kaydin has a girlfriend

Really. And the boy has taste too, here's her bio:

she's 16 months old, I think it's quite interesting that he would choose an older woman, but hey, whatever makes him happy.

she has brown hair

the sweetest smile ever

Her name is Taia, isn't it beautiful?

She lives in  Ottowa, Canada

They haven't yet met, but her mother and I are great friends, we met online, how modern is that? heheee.

Meet Taia, blowing kisses at Kaydin, while watching the video in the previous post, I'm just ooohhhing and aaahing here.

Dearest Jo - Thanks so much for sharing, HUGE HUGS

Desert Challenge 2007, Liwa

So Diederik & Louise came to visit and we took them up to Liwa, there where the big dunes are. Luckily this coincided with the UAE Desert Challenge which is sort of like a test run for the guys that will be doing the Paris to Dakar rally. I'm so glad we went, what a sight! We were early and parked on a dune to wait for the riders to come through and have breakfast, some things that happened while we waited:

base camp:

the k-man:

Gideon then decided we weren't at the right place, so we took off to find where the bikes will come past and we were just in time. Taken VERY quickly out of the car window:

And here's some more from the better vantage point where we eventually parked:

and then the trucks came!!!

and THEN the police came to say hallo, how cool is this shot? Gids took the camera up the hill and just as he was coming back down he saw the chopper and snapped away

 

Totally cool!! So, if anyone's interested, round about October next year we're going camping at Liwa to watch the whole race, it's still a bit warm that time of year but it should be quite an experience.

We had a lovely visit with Diederik and Louise and she decided to discover that she's pregnant, while with us! So special! So we have a new pregnant fairy in the family and as far as I know she and baba is doing quite well (HINT HINT you two, LOL!)

We then had a small breather, before Chantel's parents arrived for their visit over christmas. More later, I still need to process those pictures, but I can tell you, I got spoiled rotten and the K-man quite enjoyed his first christmas too. I'm now thinking of what to do for his birthday, which is only EIGHT days away!!!! I can't actually believe how the time flew. He's growing up really fast now and does something new everyday, the latest is to stick his tongue out, rather hysterical :)

Here's a video of him the other day, giggling away at Gideon making funny noises.

 

much love to all

back online!

whhooooopi kaaayyyyyeeeeah!

right, get coffee or your beverage of choice, this might just turn into a long post :-)

moving ...

You wouldn't think that this could be a whole topic on it's own. Then again, maybe you would. So the big day arrived and the packers and the boxes found each other, sometimes more successfully than other times and it took them three trips to get everything at the new house.

Way before that happy moment though we had a couple of incidents, don't we always? At about lunch time they all trooped out of the door with a friendly wave and said bye-bye, going for lunch back in a bit. No problem we say, thankful for the breather. Until we noticed that they went for lunch using the moving truck as their means of transport, which in itself is not a problem. When you realise however, that they left for lunch in the moving truck which is halfway packed with your boxes and furniture, it becomes slightly concerning ... Gideon made a moderately frantic phone call to the manager who ensured him the people and the truck and our belongings will all return. Very well said Gideon, but we don't know what they've packed in there and we must find just one little screw missing when we unpack and there will be some serious uncomfortable moments for certain people that are supposed to be in charge. The manager person ensured Gideon that we really shouldn't panic. Sure enough, about an hour later half of the troops returned. I noticed they were back and waited with great anticipation for them to start packing the rest of the house. I waited some more and a little bit more and by 20 minutes later with absolutely no activity went looking for them. Here they were calmly sitting on the front stoep, playing with cell phones, talking and joking and generally having a merry good time. When I asked why in the [bleep] were they not packing I got some incoherent answer in stupid-English. I asked again, this time also using stupid-English, hoping that my question will be understood ... hhmmmm, not so much but after much frustration and hand signals I managed to understand. They were waiting for their colleagues to return and the lunch hour wasn't over yet. My response was something to the effect of: "Then why in allah's name do you bother to return before the time and confuse the madam entirely?" Keeping in mind that I was by this time in no mood for any excuse whatsoever and was generally just a smidgen irritated. I did manage to not [bleep] them. They eventually got their asses into gear and continued the work.

When it was finally time for me to go to the new house with Kaydin and our assorted paraphernalia, Gideon very kindly called with a warning. The people that were supposed to have moved out of the majilis and the maids room, haven't. We were moving into an occupied house ... ! That was almost the last straw, in tears, exhausted from a very long day and totally not amused, I arrived here and Gideon was not kidding, not even a little bit! The dude's stuff was all over the place! The majilis, the kitchen, the stoep and the maids room, his stuff was everywhere! At least Gideon and Gideon moved it out of the room and onto the stoep so that we could move our furniture in. As you can imagine, It was just a little bit chaotic.

I spent the rest of the week cleaning the kitchen and unpacking boxes. We're almost completely settled just a few more things like curtains and pictures to sort out.

Oh, and we watched the rugby final at the new house! Some seriously nice people over at showtime came to install the dish through all the chaos of the move and that night, Gids and I parked our very tired bodies on the couches, we placed the cooler box with the beers for Gideon and wine for me in between us and we didn't move. I thought we were quite organised :-)

the news in pictures ...

There are a couple of people here that want to convince me that I really should take photo's professionally. They even paid me money to take photo's of their kids and to make it into Christmas cards! The mind boggles but does not complain :-) Here are a couple of samples:

Thanks for the opportunity ladies and for putting your trust in me :-)

the kaydin kronikles

the K-man is crawling like a champ and standing up against everything and everyone. We still only have 7 teeth though the grumpy-level indicates that we might have more on the way. I was convinced I saw the eye-teeth the other day, but nope not yet. Here then some eye-candy. Promise to post more soon.

early morning:

helping daddy wash the car

HA! found the exhaust pipe:

and then he had to get shoes because by now he scraped some skin off his little toe :-)) Gia, do they look familiar? :))

Right, that's it for now. Promise I won't make you wait so long before I post again :-))

 

much love to all

A wedding, a hat and a couple of boxes

The wedding would be the neighbours across the road from us. And how do I know that there's a wedding you ask, this is how:



The locals adorn their homes with these beautiful lights when there's a wedding in the family. So pretty, I thought.

And how is a hat connected to all of this? Well not at all, it just made the title sound funky. There is a hat though, on the boy's head. I bought this yesterday and he's not quite sure what to do with it ...











And the boxes? Well, we're finally moving!! Our timing sucks BIG time though, we're moving on Saturday .... yes, Rugby World Cup Final Day!!! We should be mostly done though by the time the game is on. This presented yet another problem, where and how will we be watching the game? Try and get our cable company to do the installation on Saturday and therefore have no problem, or disconnect and go watch elsewhere? Well, turns out the cable company is closed on Friday and Saturdays, they can do it on Sunday or Monday there. Yes, the problem is crystal clear to me too. So we decided we're leaving the tv and decoder and associated paraphernalia, we'll come back to the old house to watch the game here :) How's that for making sure we see the game!!

And how are we doing with the packing you might wanna know? Well, um, not so much, LOL!! I've packed one box with Kaydin's clothes, there's an empty one in the lounge, waiting for dvd's. The rest is in the storeroom and will be hauled out with much fanfare tomorrow on the holy Friday. We're talented that way, procrastinate is our mutual hobby. That's why, if it wasn't for the last minute, nothing in this house would ever be done! Now, just before you panic, we're only packing our personal stuff, clothes, jewelery, dvd's etc, the moving company will bring some more boxes and people and they find each other and my cabinets and they pack for us. They also dismantle the furniture and then assemble again at the new house. I get to pack the boxes out though, it's cool, then I know where everything is.

HA!!! and speaking of EWAB! Friends of ours, Chantel and Gideon took this to new heights, here we thought camping was a really cool way of avoiding the work of packing and moving, but no, they went and won tickets to the final, yes, THAT final!! Too cool and I stand in awe at the skill it took, to upstage us in such a spectacular way!! heheeee

I'm also signing off with this post. Those of you that remember the move last year will know that the new connection might take a week or a month or just a few days, it really does depend on how the forces that be feel on that particular day. So we're holding thumbs that we'll at least be able to watch tv and have our internet connection very, very soon thereafter. Inshallah ... habibi, inshallah

And last, but definitely not least, GO BOKKE!!!!!!!!

The Phlog

Because I won't do much talking, the photo's will. As my camera decided to have a flat battery halfway through braai-ing the marshmallows, most pics are copyright Chantel, thanks my friend!

We had a total blast (ok, I can't shut up, so you're gonna have to pretend to be interested for a bit), arrived on Friday afternoon at about 5-ish. Set up camp, started the fire and had the best time. So peaceful and quiet. Woke up the next morning with sparrows-fart, though here it's probably camel-belch, had coffee, fed the child and then got on the bike with my new gear. It does make such a difference to ride with one's own helmet that fits perfectly :-) I took Chantel out for a practice run, had loads of fun going over little dunes. Hey, I'm so rusty it sometimes feels like I'm learning from scratch!!

Nico the lodger and his girlfriend and their friends also came with and as they're a bunch of Pommies, Gideon offered to take them on a dune ride in their hired Fortuner. Ahh, always fun to freak the people out, my boy had a great time taking them up huge dunes and then reversing back down :-) He said they made panicky noises ... :-)

We packed up by midday and were home in time for lunch. The rest of the day was rustig, followed by a super crap Bulls game and then a mildly interesting England vs. France game. I don't actually know if I have the nerves to watch the game tonight ... might need a drinkie or something for that.

Now that you've made it this far, below are the pics. Hope everybody has a super awesome stunning week.

Ok, first the Kaydin Kronicles, the first ones are from last week, when he figured out how to pull-up in the cot. He now sleeps at the very bottom of the cot.







and this one because he's gorgeous :-) and yip, that's sand around his mouth, he was having a tasty lol!



right, now the camping:

man make fire


man roasting marshmallows


Chantel & I


my boys


the family portrait


don't-stop-play

Eid Mubarak!

Yeah the happy day is here!! It's officially the end of Ramadan and the Eid-al-Fitr holiday is upon us. It was announced last night at 21:00 that Eid will start today, lekker. That means we're in for a three day holiday.

We are going camping, in the desert, tonight! So excited about that, to be out in the fresh air, make a fire and look at the stars, ah yes isn't that what life's all about?

I went shopping on Wednesday evening, we decided to make like the arabs for a change and go shop at night. I got a new helmet and gloves, the boots and quad bike will follow shortly, yeeeeha! watch out dunes here I come, heheee. As always I was totally amazed though at the amount of babies in the mall, really really little ones, no more than a month old. My mind boggles.

Meanwhile back in Kaydin-land. He's now cut both the front bottom toofies and I'm convinced his busy with the top front ones now. EVERY nappy is a poo nappy and he's whiney and moaney and just not a happy camper. Maybe the fresh air will do him well.

No other news at the moment... I will post photo's of the camping trip when we're back.

Rama-done

well, almost at least. Seems like we're looking at round about the 12th or 13th for the end of Ramadan and the start of Eid-al-Fitr. Eid, for short, which is a bit like their Christmas, when they celebrate the end of Ramadan and all returns to normal. Ok, as close to normal as this place can be.

This also means we're in for a long week-end and the return of normal shopping hours and restaurants open during daylight hours! Yes, all the restaurants and fast food outlets are closed during the day in Ramadan, don't want to put the temptation out there, now do we. Nope, we can't trust the people to not give in to the temptation either. No, you're all infidels and we won't open them for you either. I do wonder if they'll keep on doing this during Ramadan for the foreseeable future? Why is it, that when you can't go for cheesecake and coffee at Mugg & Bean, that's the only thing you wanna do?

It's looking like we might be moving on the weekend of the 20th. The dude from the moving company was here tonight and he said he can move us in one day, you'll hear happy shouts of "hamdulla" reverberating all over the world when that happens!!

And what is on our list of things to do before the move?

Pack personal stuff - Ja, eventually

Pack PC stuff - uh-hu, will do

Pack jewelery and CD's and all valuables, before the movers are here - yip, will do that too

Go camping on the weekend before the big move - now that's the PERFECT thing to do!! lol, yes, we're going camping!! mad, I know. This is also known as EWAB - extreme work avoidance behaviour.

No news on the cheque yet ...

chocolates aren't sweets ...

After meeting with our new landlord on Thursday evening, Gideon was cornered by the delinquent Shams while walking back to his car. The following conversation ensues:

Shams - Mr. Gideon happy with Shams?
Mr. Gideon - Yes, Shams, Mr, Gideon happy with Shams.
Shams - Mr. Gideon bring Shams sweets on Saturday?
Mr. Gideon - Yes Shams, I'll bring you some sweets

The sweetie thing isn't unusual here, everybody always brings, wants or gives sweets. On any occasion from birthdays, obtaining a drivers license to the rising of the full moon, really anything is a good enough excuse. So keeping this in mind, Gideon really didn't think twice about the sweets request from Shams. However, he did, for a moment forget how conniving and sneaky the dude is ... I don't call him a delinquent for nothing.

Thinking nothing more of it, Mr. Gideon postpones the sweetie-meeting till this afternoon and just before he leaves the office, casually mentions to the guys that he now has to do this, before he can go home. One of them asked Gideon if he knows what Shams meant, Gideon, genuinely surprised said, no, what? It appears that sweets are the slang word for money. Right, enter vindictive Gideon. He goes to the co-op society close to work, which is like a supermarket, but caters much more to the locals, with delicacies such as goat steak on offer, but I digress. He buys a nice big fantastically grotesque basket of sweets and drives to the meeting place with Shams. Pretending to be really, really, really stupid, he then gives the sweets to Shams, who was appropriately gob-smacked at this basket with actual chocolates. Noticing his horror and disappointment, Gideon asked him what's the matter, he says no, he meant money. Well, that was Gideon, threw his toys out the car and the cot and over the quad bike and shat all over Shams, telling him exactly what he can do with his money and his chocolates.

And that's why chocolates aren't sweets.

No worries that this will affect the next chapter in this very long story though, the one where we wait for the cheque to be issued. We're hoping for a minimum of 10 days. There are SEVEN (7) people that have to sign just the requisition ... And then Mr. Al Jaber himself signs the actual cheque ... We're the eternal optimists.

It looks like the process has been streamlined somewhat, as it now only takes approximately six days to get the cheque, as per some people at Gids's office who reported this most fortunate news! Ah, inshalla ...

Two years ago ...

We had all our belongings packed and stored and arrived in Dubai with 3 suitcases. I look back at the person that got off that plane and I do want to ask her: "what the.....??"

I mean really. That's the kind of thing explorers to Papa New Guinea does!! Ok, they'll have tents and a camera crew from National Geographic documenting their every move and get paid loads of money. I can see where we went wrong.

This then is probably as good a time as any to show you the reason for us being here. Introducing, Between the Bridges, now almost complete and most of the guys Gideon worked with here will soon move on to even bigger projects all over the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

WE GOT THE HOUSE!!!

...and blogger ate that post ... it disappeared into that big nothingness that's cyberspace. To recap: We got the fantastic news on Thursday evening that we got the house. The one with the decent landlord, the one with the baby palm trees and future grass!! We're obviously just a little excited about that. Don't know moving dates yet, but it will be around the end of October ... hhmmmm, gonna be interesting with guests here and all. Oh well, as they say, things always have a way of working out.

steak, cheese curls and beer
Someone asked me last week while remarking that the K-man has grown so much, what I feed him. I said: "steak, cheese curls and beer". I wasn't kidding about the beer LOL!!