Skip to main content

Summation

Wow. What a week. I'm not complaining (especially as I've renounced self-pity as part of my recent emotional spring clean) but I am quite amazed at how much I've managed to pack in.

This time last week I was in California saying goodbye to my family and about to set off in my asthmatic hire car for San Francisco airport (still kind of wish I'd upgraded to that oddly desirable super-flash Corvette). And yet it seems so, so much longer than five days since I set foot back in Dubai - time seems to have stretched this week, making me realize that the concept of time is very much subject to perception...

Starting at University on my new postgraduate course, a serendipitous job offer that came totally out of the blue, being asked to act as the unofficial 'muse' for a new magazine set to launch in Dubai later in the year (more on this another time), finding a tenant for our house and starting the always-stressful hunt for a rental villa closer to the kid's school (so far unsuccessful, bah)... All this on top of the usual running-a-household stuff, the school run, the weekly homework trauma and trying to keep my unruly child-tribe from reverting to total savagery (an ongoing battle, often futile).

As someone famous once said, 'It's all about change, baby.' And change is something to be embraced, regardless of the inevitable trepidation that comes with it, because it's usually the prelude to something better... however long it takes to emerge. I'm hanging on to that.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Change...the prelude to something better... or ...the prelude to something different? Sounds like your life is full to overflowing. Make sure it's not more of the same! Good Luck!
Hey, welcome back! Good to find you blogging again!

Popular posts from this blog

The Grim Reaper

Firstborn is obsessed with death. It started with the odd comment, such as; "Mummy, what happens when you die?" OK, I thought, I was expecting this at some point, what a cute little curious brain she has. So I trotted out all the cosy Heaven stuff and left out all the things that could worry her, such as worms and bones and holes in the ground. This went down pretty well, although somehow Firstborn made the jump from my view of Heaven (filled with love, joy, always warm, never rains, has a huge discount designer shoe outlet and I never have to pay my Visa bill) to her own view of Heaven; a wonderous place where small girls don't have to eat their vegetables before they're allowed pudding, and where Barbie dolls grow on trees. Anyway, I digress. Last week Firstborn started shouting "Kill! Kill!" in a bloodthirsty tone while bashing her hithero-beloved teddy against the wall. This was topped by her purposely flushing her favourite My Little Pony down the loo. ...

What Price Romance?

Let's talk romance for a moment. Manhattan Mama clearly feels deprived in this department and this is one of the most bewildering aspects of life with her. My latest attempt to remedy this is to make a reservation at A Voce--some interpretation of Tuscan cuisine--that the NYT recently gave three very optimistic stars. I've been a few times on my employers expense, so I know it's nice but I also know what it's going to cost. I'm thinking lucky if we get out of there for less than $150. Tack on another $50 for the babysitter. Then drinks, cabs, etc. Better not to do the math. It's not that MM wouldn't be perfectly happy with a kabab or a trip to the hipster taqueria, maybe some flowers from the corner stand. None of that would register in her mind as this mythic thing know as a DATE, and thus would win me no more points on her end than remembering to take down the recycling. Making a DATE means you're thinking of her, which means you're engaged with h...

Environment

Being an expat, a favorite topic of conversation is 'where I/you want to go next?' or 'When do you plan to go home?' It's a good question. I'm not sure I want to stay in Dubai for ever, but I'm also not sure about how long I want to be here for or where else I would like to live. For almost the first time ever, I have no fixed plans apart from keeping my eyes and mind open to interesting opportunities. And as to going 'home', I have no idea where that is. Constantly moving around as a child left me with the feeling that 'home' is wherever I am right now, so in effect 'home' could be anywhere. The longest I've ever lived in one fixed place was 18 years in London, on and off, but that doesn't feel like 'home' either - I love going back to see family and friends, and it's a great place to shop, but that's about it. I have a great love for California, which is where my extended family is from (and where most of the...