A Brief Return and a Life Celebrated

So in just a few short hours I will board a plane for a very, very long flight home to Texas!  I am looking forward to the time that I will spend seeing family and friends but not really looking forward to the flight!  Ooohhh my tailbone!!!  Well enough whining...LOL!

It is only going to be me returning for this trip... The boys have school and hubby has work.  This trip is not all fun and games.  I have many things that I am needing to take care of before returning to Abu Dhabi.  There are loose ends that need to be tied! So here I come to tie them...  On top of this, I am returning for my blessed grandmother's funeral.  It is bitter sweet...

My grandmother didn't live the easy life.  She had a very hard road from the beginning.  She wasn't raised by her parents.  Her older siblings raised her. She had to work from a very early age and had children at an early age.  She made her mistakes in life and tried desperately to learn from them.  She also made lots of memories along the way.  She was a very good dancer in her younger years and actually won a few dance contests!  Just a few years ago, I had the privilege of dancing with her at my sister's wedding, and friends, she still had moves!  She had many friends and everyone loved her!  Although she was a hard worker and was constantly working up until a couple of years ago, her best accomplishment was when she accepted the Lord as her Savior!  She had a sweet, kind spirit and a such a cute, funny little personality!

My grandmother has dealt with many health issues through the years, and I believe that she has known for a long time that she was more ill than she let on.  She has watched each of her older siblings as well as her twin brother, battle cancer which in the end took their lives.  My grandmother felt that the treatment for cancer was worse than the disease itself.  So just a few months ago, as her health really began to fail, my mother went with her for some tests at the doctor's office.  The tests revealed that she had cancer....  I have been told that what happened next was not your ordinary response to this news.  My grandmother listened to the diagnosis and then raised her hands in the air and said "Hallelujah!  I am going home! I am going to see Jesus!"  She wasn't scared.  She didn't get depressed.  She praised God!  Not for having cancer, but for the sheer fact that she was ready to see the Lord!  Absolutely impressive!  She is such an inspiration.....  

They told her at that point that she had probably had about 6 months to live.  A few weeks passed and they ran tests again to see exactly what type of cancer that was ravaging her body. (It was important to do this because we needed to know for family history purposes, being that so many of our family members have passed from different cancers.)  The tests came back revealing that she had 2 types....liver and pancreatic cancer.  At this point, the 6 months were changed to 2-3.  Family members were notified, and plans for her birthday were made.  She celebrated her last birthday August 20th, and had a really good day!  She was surrounded by family, both close and extended.  She loved every minute of it!  I unfortunately was not able to attend....  But we did the next best thing, I was able to Skype with her that day!  She was glad to see me and told me not to cry because she was happy...  Then when she found out that it was very late where I was in the Middle East, she thumped the screen where my nose was, and then told me to go to bed! LOL  She was such a hoot!

That was just 3 weeks ago...  From that time, she has progressively gotten worse.  I made plans to make a trip home, so that I could see her before she passed.  My mom told her I was coming, and she was so happy to hear that!  Each time I was updated on how she was doing, things just seemed to be getting worse so quickly.  She was confused and feeling like she wasn't in her right mind.  She would pour drinks out because she didn't know what it was.  She had a few accidents with not making it to the bathroom on time.  Her body was turning on itself.  As I am typing this, I am swallowing the lump that is in my throat because I hate thinking of her in so much pain and confusion.  My mother and her sister were able to be there with her to help her, and I know that this was not an easy task for them at all.  

Yesterday morning, Sept. 11, 2013, as I drove to my boys' school to sub for the day, I sent up a little prayer...  I said, "Lord, please tell my mommaw that she doesn't have to wait on me.  Tell her that I love her and that I understand if she wants to let go. Lord if it is in your will, please end her suffering.  Please don't make her go through anymore pain. Amen."  A few hours later I received a message that she had passed from this world.  I thanked the Lord for answering my prayer even though I was sad and heartbroken.  I knew she was ready....She wanted to go to heaven to see her family members and friends that had gone ahead of her!  She wanted to see Jesus!  I can't fault her for that....  She was a wonderful lady and I will never forget her!  She was the last living grandparent that my sisters and I had, and I am so glad that she was ours.  I am also so glad that my children were able to know her and know that she was their great grandmother.  Family is so very important!

So this is not goodbye mommaw!  Just see ya later....  With my heart full of love and a mixture of emotions, I travel home to celebrate the life of one tough, yet gentle lady....my Mommaw!!

Teaching in the UAE

Well it has been a while since my last post, but with school beginning and tackling all the homework each night with the boys, there hasn't been much time for updating.  They all have homework every night.  Clay has the most to do but he is the oldest and this school is very rigorous.  He is working very hard.  Joshua is struggling to get a better grip on being responsible for himself, and taking ownership for his education. As soon as he can get this mastered, he is going to have a wonderful year!  Denver is also working hard and trying to adapt to the higher level of work that is expected from him.  It is a learning year for all of us! 

 Not only have the boys successfully made it through 2 1/2 weeks of school, I have worked as a substitute teacher twice at their school.  Very interesting experience being the sub and not the actual teacher....  All went very well, but it was just a different experience being in the substitute teacher role.  All of the kids were very good, didn't have any problems. 

The first time I subbed it was for the elementary campus as the PE teacher.  Very full schedule!  I had 7 class times with kids, an hour for lunch, and an hour for a planning period.  The elementary gym and supply closet are very nice.  Any PE coach/teacher would love to have this type of space and supplies.  

The second time and most recent was just this passed week.  I subbed for the middle school campus for one of the 8th grade teachers, Language Arts and Social Studies.  All of the kids actually worked on the assignment that was left for them.  I was impressed!  Now they aren't perfect but they were all working....  Their behavior was very well behaved and polite.

I am sure that the school will keep me plenty busy with sub work, but I really need to find a steady form of income.  We thought that we would be able to get by with me not working but things are 3x as expensive here as in the states, so this will not be the case.  I am fine with working.... It was strange to me not having a job.  Granted taking care of the house and monitoring the kiddos is full time work in itself, but I have always worked outside the home from the time I graduated high school.  So the past couple of weeks have been good but at the same time very different than what I have been accustomed to.  With all this being said, a couple of weeks ago I put all of my professional information out to a few schools to be included on their sub lists as well, and I actually applied for a few positions at a new school that is in the final stages of being built about 20-25minutes from our villa compound.  I received a call yesterday for an interview for one of those positions!!  I was really thinking that I had possibly started my application process too late but I guess not!  My interview will be today around 3pm, and I am praying for God's will to be done.  There are no guarantees, but I have at least made the cut, or the short list as they call it here.  They collect applicants information, sort through them, and then make a "short list" of those that they are most interested in to contact for interviews.  So I guess they think I am qualified enough to at least make the cut!  I am very nervous, but best foot forward! 

Now here is the tricky part....  To work here you must have particular professional documents attested.  Now you may be asking, what does that mean?  Basically having something attested means that the documents must be stamped and verified in your home state, then your home country, and then in the country you are going to be working in.  This means that I will need to get my college transcript, college diploma, and teaching certificates attested.  At this time I do not have any of these things attested.  I am in the process of getting all of this done, which is going to require me to send these documents back to the states and then to the powers that need to sign and stamp them, and then back to the UAE to be verified here.  For today's interview I will not have any of these documents in this official form, but I will have copies of these items for them to see, with the promise of the attested documents to come.  Man the hoops you have to jump through to work in a different country!  

The teaching position is a lower level/elementary position, so I am excited yet nervous!  I have never taught on the elementary level.  The lowest level/grade that I have ever taught is 5th grade, so we will see how it goes.  If I get this position, then I can say that I have worked on all campuses....high school, middle school, and elementary!

So send up a prayer for me that God's will be done in this new adventure!!  I am always saying you are never to old to learn new things!  Looks a good time for learning!!!