Nursery Days

Today was Jacob's first day of nursery and it was a resounding a success.



I woke him at 7.00am - which is very early for him - with some chocolate milk and a honey sandwich and he was so happy to be up and ready to face the day, we quickly did the necessary ablutions and made it to nursery by 7.45am if you can believe it. He was dying to get playing with the other children and when I said "I'm going now sweetie" he said "OK Bye Mummy" and went off and played. I went back to the house and felt at a loss for a while and then went and had a swim.

I went to pick Jacob up at 12.00 and he was really happy, he'd had a fabulous time and was on a real high. We went home and had some lunch and then he played with his new friend here, following which he went for a nap and promptly fell out of bed ! He's ok - no harm done, but we have now moved his bed against the wall so it won't happen again.

We've just been out for a lovely meal where a band was playing and Jacob got asked to dance by a little Australian girl who was very pretty - of course typical man - he turned her down !

A nice day for sure.

Tonsil Torture

Well, I have been away from the blog for a few days because I have been proper poorly. It started as a bit of a sore throat that grew and grew until I could barely breath through my mouth. I haven't had a throat that bad since I can't remember when. I couldn't sleep because I couldn't swallow and the final straw was when I found myself sitting on the sofa at 3.30am wishing it was morning so that I could get up, drinking lemsip and then dozing off sitting upright because it was more comfortable than laying down. So long story short James managed to get me to the hospital to see the family Dr and she was very nice indeed. She told me that cases as severe as mine were very rarely seen in adults and then asked me if I would like my tonsils whipped out - aghhh - I said or croaked - no thank you ! She then offered me a injection for the pain - for those of you that don't know - injections and I are not the best of friends so I declined figuring that I was suffering enough trauma already. She gave me a prescription for some strong anti-biotics, which I have been taking for two days now and some little triangular pills that are super anti-inflamatory's and have made me feel a whole lot better.

So now I am on the road to recovery and so pleased to be able to say that - it felt like it was never going to go away, but hopefully by tomorrow I'll be back to normal. I have to go back to see the lovely Dr on Thursday, presumably so that she can try to persuade me again to have them out - I hope I can find my way back to the hospital I was in a bit of a fug when we did the journey last time. Oh, it was quite expensive this Dr business. It cost OR12 to see the DR and then OR20 to buy the drugs. (that's £18 to see the Dr and £30 to buy the drugs). James has informed Jacob and I that we are not allowed to get sick more than once a month !

So I am currently on a quest to find Jacob a nursery. I have visited two so far and neither are perfect - both have good points, one is a Montessori nursery and has lots of student, but seems a little austere, the other looks more fun, but doesn't seem to have that many students, so is a little quiet. I'm going to go back and visit the more fun nursery again tomorrow and see if the lack of students was a one off. There are lots of nurseries here, but these were recommended by the British School as where most of their students come from. I would really like to get Jacob started at nursery next week so that we've got a little time to get him settled in before the Christmas holidays start which is around 20 December - the next term then doesn't start until around 14 January - so if I have to wait until then to get him in nursery, he's going to find the transition very hard. Anyway - we shall see - I'll get him in somewhere next week - it's difficult when you don't know people to ask - I guess we could always move him next term if we find somewhere better - that's doable.

As I have been sick I haven't been able to take any photos - mainly because I haven't been anywhere other than the living room and the kitchen. I do have one photo for you though - it' the label on the bottle of Ribena in our kitchen - it made me smile and I thought it might you too.

Anchors Aweigh

Well I suppose it's time I stopped the wife from gabbing and say something myself as this is a joint venture. I arrived 10 weeks before Becky and Jacob when the weather was hotter and there was not a cloud to be seen in the sky, not that there is now ! Being suddenly a single man again, I was able to enjoy the finer things in life, like drinking beer in the rugby club, burping and other interesting bodily functions.

Still I did all the research and found out what to do, where to go, what to buy and generally everything (Becky is unsure and rather surprised to hear this). As is normal with men, my first priority was to get a car, and like a little boy in a toy shop I went for the biggest and baddest car around, well within my budget ! So, I bought Becky a Dodge Durango, seven seater four wheel drive, with a 5.7 ltr V8 engine, because she wanted something a little bigger than her Citroen C3 !



As my Dad would say it has all the fruit and then some, depending on which key you use the seats, mirrors, foot pedals, air conditioning and radio will automatically adjust to the drivers personal setting, now that's fun - all we have to do now is work out how to make it go !

My bit of fun is scuba diving, of which there is plenty as Oman is one long beach. I joined up with the local BSAC club in Muscat, a fine group of reprobates, and any chance I get I'm in the water with a cylinder of air on my back. There is plenty to see underwater, from turtles, to dolphins, moray eels, rays, and sharks, to the more sedate fish life. Still I got attitude off a couple of clown fish last week, so much for a friendly Nemo !



So Becky and Jacob have now arrived, Jacob vomitting and pooing, and Becky unable to speak (is that a good thing ?!) due to a very sore throat - a very bad thing. But it's wonderful to be a family again and I wouldn't change it for the world. We are all looking forward to our new life together in Muscat and having as much fun as possible.

Just Keep Swimming

So what is the first thing you have to do when you go from cold and icy England to warm and sunny Oman - go swimming of course - it's a must and that is just what Jacob and James did this morning. Jacob loved it and for the first time in a long time James actually managed to get him to kick his legs and make an attempt at real swimming, so hopefully he'll be swimming properly at some point soon.

Here they are this morning in the pool.



The weather is balmy here right now - it's quite warm, but not too sticky, there is a breeze, which is nice, although the sun is really bright and I'm really glad I got Jacob some good sunglasses before we left England.

I have now officially driven the Monstermobile and it was great - you have to drive in the middle of the road because it's so big, but it's fab - parking is, what shall I say - fun !? it takes quite a lot of moves to get it done and I nearly got stuck in a nasty position, but I did it and I didn't scratch the car - so now I feel confident enough to go off and explore.

Tomorrow we hope to look at a couple of nursery's for Jacob. We need to get him in there sooner rather than later because they aparently break up for Christmas soon and I would like him to have a little bit of nursery before the holidays, just so that he knows that that is going to be the normal - although the idea of getting him there for 7.45am doesn't thrill me I have to say ! Still maybe we'll get a special dispensation and he'll be able to start at a more civilised 9.30am ! I doubt it.

I have spotted a couple of Christmas trees already - so that's good news. We are planning on buying a small fake tree this year and a few decorations, and then next year when we have our huge tree out here - the small one can either go in the hallway, or in Jacob's room - well you can't have Christmas without a tree and they are quite cheap.

We popped to a shopping mall last night to try and get Jacob some sandals and it was really odd - there were so many shops in there that I recognised - Monsoon, Next, Mango, Clare's Accessories - which I didn't think was outside of Kent, let alone the UK! it was good - there was a fabulous toy shop there, with the most amazing selection of Spiderman bits - the most I have ever seen, so Jacob was in heaven ! Looks like Santa will be busy this year !

We finally managed to get Jacob a pair of sandals today - they are lovely and were only £5, so a bargain as well. We did a bit of minor splashing out, getting a new bed sheet for Jacob's bed, a new feather pillow for James, some Sandals for James, two lovely big fluffy swimming pool towels, some fold out mats for the beach, some hand towels and a bat and ball for Jacob and the whole lot cost £45 - I think I'm going to like shopping here - bad news ! Haven't seen any wool shops yet though - although I did see a lovely shop selling silk dress fabric.

James is off to work tomorrow, so I'm on my own and I've got to try to get to two nursery's going to be fun - I'm really looking forward t o it actually - I can't wait to explore after the little drive that we all went on today - the mountains are everywhere and spectacular and the roads are brilliant. Lots of fun to be had I think.

Day One

Well, here we are day one - well it's day one for Jacob and I and it's week eleven for James, but since I'm writing this, we'll call it day one !

The flight from London was interesting - Jacob was very poorly, but a good boy nonetheless, he had a runny tummy, a rash on his stomach and then vomitting, but apart from that he was very good. I on the other hand was excellent, I wasn't scared at all and it was all a breeze. Made washing out pooey pants a pleasure !

So we arrived and we are all delighted to be back together again as a family, it's wonderful. Jacob wants to tell James everything and doesn't want to talk to me at all - totally understandable.

We had a bit of a nap this afternoon and then a touch of exploring, followed by a lovely dinner at Kargeen's - gorgeous humous and unlevened bread filled with olives, peppers and onions, followed by kofta and steak and washed down with the most fabulous fruit juices - mmmmmm - much better that the rather unpleasant veg pasta offered up on the plane.

So, here we are, we are in Oman at last and our adventure begins - and it begins with the MONSTERMOBILE - what a vechicle I have been presented with - it is massive and it is fabulous - I can't wait to get behind the wheel - well I can, as I think damage may ensue, but it's going to be fun, fun, fun.

Tomorrow we are thinking of a visit to the beach - oh is it snowing in England ? well nevermind !