Business venture

We have recently started our own company, selling made to measure kitchen worktops. Please visit our new blog for the company at 

discountworktopstore.blogspot.co.uk

The blog will feature worktop industry news but also lifestyle articles, with recipes, reviews and more!

Our new website, where you will find a range of luxury kitchen worktops, is called 

www.kitchen-worktop-store.co.uk

Thanks for browsing! x

Not long now!

After three months in a breech position it looks like this baby is not for turning! Due  to that I've booked a c section for next Friday, 20th September. Five days earlier than my due date but I feel ready to meet baby Deary now :-)

Baby preparations

I will be 34 weeks pregnant this week so not too long to go now until the baby's arrival! Getting excited. We're more or less organised with all the big items and just need to get a few small bits and pieces. The baby's room has been decorated, just need a couple more pictures etc on the walls, the buggy and car seat arrived today and all clothes washed, ironed and folded in the wardrobe :)

Welcome Home flowers

We've been home for just over a week now and so have had chance to see most of our church friends. We received a lovely welcome last Sunday morning with a round of applause! On Friday Laurence and I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from the Glasgow church to say 'welcome home'. The arrangement was stunning and massive so I had to get creative and divide it up into smaller bunches. They are a lovely reminder of how blessed we are to be part of such a huge group of people who care :)

Home Sweet Home

That's us been home for three days already. Can't believe how much we've packed into that time! My auntie Julie, gran, cousin and his girlfriend and daughter had come up from Manchester to surprise us at the airport with mum, George, Nicole & the Creightons. However the welcome party didn't go quite as planned as the flight was early and so only mum & George were there to meet us haha. The others trickled in to the airport in stages, it was quite funny! The Manchester group didn't make it to the airport at all and so just met us all at our house for tea and toast. By that time we'd been told they were coming :-D

Me, Nicole & Auntie Julie

The journey home was pretty quick but it was a night flight and I really wanted to try and get some sleep but wasn't able to.

On Saturday after arriving home, Nicole and I went to Braehead with Julie, Tom, Lowrell and Tianna for coffee and a look around. Then on Saturday night, after Laurence had picked up our new car we went for a drive to get a fish supper from our favourite chippy. Couldn't wait for one of those.

After a lovely welcome at church on Sunday we picked Vera up and went to Clare's for a Sunday roast and to see the Dearys. That was a lovely day of catching up and great food. The kids are all getting so big! They are excited about a new cousin (to add to the 21 there already is!!).

Today was for getting organised, housework, food shopping and unpacking. We also had Rosalind, Matthew and Anna over for tea before going back down to Inverclyde to pick up things we'd left in Laurence's sisters' houses that we forgot yesterday. Busy three days but very enjoyable and we are soooo glad to be home :)

Waiting in Kuwait airport for our flight home

The surprise visit was all too much for Tianna!

This time tomorrow....

...we'll be in Glasgow! Yay! We leave the flat in Kuwait tonight at about 8.30pm and our flight out of Kuwait is at 12.55am. We're giving ourselves LOADS of time because word on the street is an expected 200,000 people (expats) are leaving Kuwait this weekend so the airport is expected to be mobbed. We've been waiting so long to go home now it's almost surreal to think this is our last day!  We will need to finish off packing and leaving the flat tidy. Somebody is moving into Sue's room today so there will be lots of activity as Anthony is leaving also. I'd quite like to have a couple of hours by the pool too to make the most of that then we'll have tea then get going! It would have been good to have a nap before flying because I can't sleep on flights so I'll be awake all night but I think our bed is being moved rooms for the new flatmate so I'll have to wait and see. See you at Glasgow airport tomorrow morning ;-)

Goodbyes

Started saying our goodbyes this afternoon. Our flatmate Sue leaves for Manchester tonight and we won't see Gita the maid again. A lady from work is coming over to the pool later so I'll get to say bye to her then. Definitely not as hard as leaving the Philippines as we've really not grown attached to anyone or anything here. However we thank God for our time in Kuwait and the purpose  that it served. 

Moon bathing

Last night Laurence and I walked into town to get last minute jobs done. We sorted all our money transfers, collected my antenatal notes and bought an extra case. By the time we got back to the complex we were boiling! It's still in the 30s or even 40s here at night! As we walked past the pool we decided to go for a late night swim. It was lovely! Nice to not have to worry about sunburn too. The water was warm and we watched the bats circling the pool area! I've been meaning to take a photo of the moon while I've been here as sometimes it's a really thin crescent shape like you see on some of the Arabic flags but I forgot so the one I've posted is from Google! :-D

Milestone!

Leaving meal

We went out last night with an English girl I know from work and her Kuwaiti husband. They recommended a restaurant called the Slider Station which was great. The food was quite different and we shared American tapas then cake pops and chocolate fondue for dessert. We then went to a cafe for coffee with their friend from Dumfries & Galloway. It's a different world in Kuwait when you have access to a car. Just driving to the restaurant in the city I realised how little of Kuwait we've experienced and I think with a car and friends in the know I could even like it here! Lol

Laurence was very excited to have his picture taken in Sarah's orange Hummer!

This week at school will be very slow as we have no children and nothing in the classrooms. However it's a week to wind down and we get paid for literally nothing! 

24 weeks

Starting to feel quite big now although I feel fine which is great. I can feel the baby moving around a lot now which is very weird but amazing!

Not long now!

Only 16 days until we go home yay! I have a day off today for an Islamic holiday then two weeks of school to get last minute paperwork and packing up done. Not many children are in so I only take one lesson a day and have one break duty, it's great! We have a checklist of things to do though before the school will release our last pay so that's keeping me busy. 

We're so excited about going home :)

 

Monkey!

I forgot to post this picture the other day! Laurence and I were walking along the beach to the shops and two young boys got out of the car with an animal on a lead. At first glance I presumed it was a dog but quickly realised it was walking a bit strangely! As it got closer I couldn't believe it was a monkey, pretty big too!! Laurence asked if he could take a picture and the monkey was making a crazy screeching noise at us so I kept my distance!! :-D

Reception Green

Had to laugh at the class photo today as some of the children look so serious! 

Teddy Bears' Picnic

We had the 'end of year' show today with a summer theme. My class performed Teddy Bears' Picnic and Sing a Rainbow. They did good and I'm just glad it's over! There's actually three weeks left of school but most of the early years part of the school won't come back now which is quite sad as I won't see my wee class again! I got a couple of nice pressies but it was a strange 'last day' with the class as I'll be back in on Sunday as normal. It gives me a chance to get my reports written though!

I put on a summer dress to wear to school today, for the show and it was too tight! I only had it on last weekend and it was fine. My clothes are starting to get slightly uncomfortable now but I really don't want to have to buy maternity clothes here as I've already got so much luggage to take home!

Three weeks tomorrow until we leave Kuwait!

School's (almost) out for summer!

I now only have four weeks left at this school. It has AMAZED me how quickly this year's gone. Next week we have our 'summer' theme end of year show then apparently after that the class numbers drastically dwindle :) So I could be in for an easy final three weeks.

I have really enjoyed working at this school. I feel like I've been able to concentrate on actually teaching as opposed to crowd control and all the admin and paperwork I was swamped with last year as part of probation year. It's a pity I can't bring this job back to Scotland with me :(

There are some real characters in the class and despite English being their second language I was able to build a good relationship with them and even have a laugh with them! I had a funny story for Laurence almost every day. The language barrier could be frustrating for both myself and some of the children though and I thought I repeated myself all the time last year!!

I was surprised to see myself in the school brochure advertising for next year! 

May celebrations

I like May because there's lots to celebrate! :) firstly the weather is usually nice in Scotland in May which I believe is not the case this year however we are enjoying the sun anyway-sorry! ;) 

It's also my birthday and our anniversary month. It was a strange birthday this year as there's no postal service here so there were no cards to open like at home :( I got some nice email messages though.  I wasn't very well in my birthday week this year so I didn't feel up to doing much but we managed out for a lovely meal to one of our favourite places here. I didn't have much of an appetite so I only had a bowl of soup so I could have a crepe for dessert which I've been craving! I have definitely developed a sweet tooth during this pregnancy! 

That was another thing to celebrate this May. I am half way through my pregnancy and by next May we will be 3! We still can't quite believe that!!

Tonight we went to TGI Friday for our anniversary meal which was very nice. We treated ourselves to a steak, as we agreed no pressies this year, and it was amazing! I also squeezed in another dessert at a restaurant nearby called Chocolate. I had choc chip cookies and marshmallow milk yum! Kuwaitis also have a sweet tooth so dessert is a big deal here.

The final celebration is that it's not long until we are home! Woohoo. It's 36 days in fact! Lol. I have five school weeks left then we get the flight the day after I finish. I'm sure we'll miss the pool and the sun here and admittedly, despite working, the 8 months have felt a bit like a holiday. However, I think we're both ready for familiar surroundings and to be surrounded by our friends and family 

Aquarium

The reception classes went on a trip to the aquarium today which was great. Most of the class came in to school very excited about getting on the bus as they weren't very sure where they were actually visiting until I said we were going to see the fish! I should of realised 6 year olds might not know what aquarium means!

Trips here are a lot less frantic than previous ones I've organised. Firstly because I don't have to organise them, therefore no insurance forms, no buses to organise, not costings and I'm not the only teacher there.

With UK trips (and common sense) in mind I asked the school nurse if I could take the inhalers of three boys in my class who have asthma. Her reply was 'God willing, they won't have an attack' I was a little surprised by that, despite my strong faith that God's in control.

The kids loved the aquarium, and I was just as excited to see massive sharks and penguins! There was a desert animal section too which was interesting as there were animals there I'd never seen before.

After having a Burger King lunch on the board walk and watching the jet skiers it was back to school. Today was the first working day I've really noticed the heat, because I was out and about instead of in my freezing classroom. It's really hotting up now and will get to about 40-50 celcius apparently :-/

International Week again!

Just finished my second International Week at school in as many months! I did Scotland with my class again of course :-) We had the performance today which I really enjoyed, it was much less of an ordeal than last time as both myself and the class knew what to expect. We sang a nice song from the film "Brave" called 'Touch the Sky' which everyone was raving about and 'The Big Ship Sails' which according to the internet (so it must be true! lol) is Scottish!? The kids all sang really well and did their actions/dancing perfectly.

Thankfully my Head Teacher Vera, from Stirling leant me her kilt as I don't think the tartan shirt I bought in the Philippines would have fit me. The class turnout was fantastic! I wondered if the parents would be able to find tartan here but they really made and effort with some parents making outfits and two full Scottish outfits from a toy shop! One little girl had her hair spray painted red like Merida in the film :)

Had to convince Mohamed that a pink scarf was ok for boys lol

Some blue treats for Scotland

Miss Natalie