SunDevil | ExpatWoman.com
 

SunDevil

SunDevil
774
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EW GURU
Latest post on 29 August 2012 - 20:21
Thank you, thank you Busybee!!
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 27 August 2012 - 08:45
Hi SunDevil, what did you decide at the end, KG1 or Pre-K? I decided to keep him in PreK. I sent the principal an email asking for information on the ages of the children in the KG1 class they were considering for him and he never responded to me. I sent two more follow up emails and never heard from him. But I had already pretty much decided to keep him in PreK but I wanted to give KG1 a fair thought. This summer some things happened that reconfirmed to me that I need to keep him in PreK and let him be the oldest for once. We went to Disney and he wasn't tall enough for the rides 5 year old brother could do so he missed out on those and then the kids went zip lining and he wasn't tall enough to do that, so again the older ones got to do it and not him. I think keeping him in PreK will be good for him and give him the chance to be the big kid for once and not always little brother. I also thought about the fact that next year when he's in KG1, there could be a whole new shift in the children and their ages so I can't just make decisions based on the other children's ages now, I have to think about my son and think long-term for him.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 23 July 2012 - 14:25
Yum... Just got my Target popcorn and Icee yesterday while shopping there. I miss that place! I'm home for Ramadan but will be back in Dubai in late August and would love to meet up with y'all at an AWA coffee. I'm in the Ranches and they have one monthly at Shakespeare's
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 15 July 2012 - 10:05
Hello, Just an update to this post for any future readers - we ended up making only 1 appointment and went to the U.S. Consulate in Dubai to notarize a Power of Attorney and only paid one fee, 186 AED (equivalent of $50.00) because even though my husband and I both signed, we were signing the same document and were charged only 1 fee because it required only 1 notary stamp. FYI! That's the same thing we did in Dec for a real estate POA. Two signatures on the same page but one $50 USD fee. We asked some random stranger in the lobby to be our witness and it worked just fine. He was such a nice guy, even gave us his business card just in case there was a problem with his signature and the real estate brokerage company needed to contact him. LOL
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 14 July 2012 - 20:50
We loved their show! Why did they close?
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 11 July 2012 - 10:54
Thank you so much! I'll pass the information along.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 04 July 2012 - 09:14
Are you sure the phone call came from a Du number? If you have doubts, call the customer service number. It came from a 04 number but it's on DH's phone and he's at work so I can't look it up. She didn't want any information from us and had all our information regarding our Du account. She just wanted us to run the procedure to clean this virus off our computer stating that on July 9th when we turned on our computer it would start destroying our computer. DH investigated it online and it is a legit virus but we ran our virus scans again and checked it from the US Govt website and all our computers are clean. We even checked our iPads and iPhones. No virus.
SunDevil
774
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EW GURU
Latest post on 29 June 2012 - 09:59
Sorry for the confusion Osya2010, our DD is not Russian, she is American. We were home in the states doing our youngest son's first PPR to send to the Russian authorities when our agency in the states that did our home study asked us to adopt her. I don't know an agency to help you with the paperwork. Our agency in the US was a fantastic agency and very well connected in Russia but closed their international agency last year b/c of the economic downturn in the economy. I would suggest contacting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/asgdubai/ to see if anyone can help you. You'll have to join the group but that doesn't take long. They are a very knowledgeable group.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 27 June 2012 - 22:13
So happy to hear you are adopting. I posted on the other thread that we adopted two boys from Russia that are now 5 and 3, so Russia is near and dear to our hearts. This past summer we went home to the states for our usual summer vacation and per Russian adoption law, we met with our social worker in the states and did the first year's follow up report (post placement report or PPR) to submit to the Russian authorities for our second son. The social worker that did our PPR was the same woman that has helped us over the years with both adoptions and knows our family very well. The follow up visit went great and at the end of the visit she asked if we had thought about adopting a third child and I told her we had but didn't know which country we would go to and she began to explain that they had a newborn girl in their custody and didn't have any qualified families to adopt her and asked if we would consider adopting her! DH was still here in Dubai since I went home early to get the PPR done and he was meeting me in the states a week later. To make a long story short, 16 days later we had custody of a newborn baby girl and came back to Dubai as a family of five! One of the requirements was we had to get a home study done here in Dubai within a certain amount of time and I contacted Dr. Raymond Hamden at the Human Relations Institute and he came to the house and did our home study. I am guessing that's what Russia is calling a "competent authority", would be a licensed social worker here in Dubai. Dr. Hamden is fully licensed to do home studies and you can call him at 04 365 8498. He is a VERY nice man and I'm sure he could help you. Good luck with your adoption!!
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 24 June 2012 - 22:01
Hi SunDevil My son turned 4 during his preKG year (he did it at a nursery not at UAS). All the kids in his class turned 4 during this year, some early in the year and some are having their birthdays now. I think there will always be a range in every year of school. All the KG1 kids will be turning 5 through this year. Maybe ask if he will be a whole year younger now in the KG1 class? I wonder, if he was finding things too simple and the other kids too young if they could move him after a few months if necessary. (sorry so many 'ifs' in that sentence!) I asked the principal to let me know the ages of the kids in the class they are suggesting to move my son into so I can see if he's going to be a lot younger or just a month or so younger. What I don't understand is, the cutoff for PreK at UAS is they must be 3 by Sept 15th. Well last year he was only two and wouldn't turn 3 until Oct 10 so he missed the cutoff to start PreK last year. Now this year I want him in PreK but they are suggesting that I push him to KG1 b/c now he's a full year OLDER than the PreK kids. How did he lose a year? Last year he wasn't old enough for PreK but now they are saying he's too old??? I'm so frustrated.
SunDevil
774
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EW GURU
Latest post on 21 June 2012 - 20:07
He's still 3 but turns 4 in the beginning of October. The email from the principal told me he and three other children are being offered the move to KG1 b/c of their age. He said my son will be a full one year older than most of the PreK students and "months" older than the oldest student in his class. The whole reason I wanted him in PreK was for maturity and giving him that extra year. He's on the smaller side but academically I think he'll be fine but I purposely kept both my boys out for a year so they would be the older students in the class rather than the younger. But I don't want him to be a year older than the other children. Also, when we finally return to the states, he'll be the youngest again b/c of the cut off dates in our state.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 21 June 2012 - 19:04
Thank you Redleaf! Now I just have to decide if I should move him to KG1 or keep him in PreK....
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 20 June 2012 - 20:12
Does anyone know the hours for KG1 at UAS? I just received an email from the principal asking me to consider moving our son from PreK to KG1. He's registered to start PreK but I guess he's one of three students that are going to be almost a full year older than the rest of the kids in PreK. I really wanted him in PreK but now I have to rethink things if he's going to be that much older. But on the other hand, if I move him to KG1 will he be the baby? He's not very big for his age either, but smart as a whip. I just wanted him to have some time in the spotlight instead of always being the "little" brother around our house.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 14 June 2012 - 14:30
I just wanted to follow up on the uniforms. I went today to get uniforms for my Prek and KG2 student. They are all out of the polos in sizes 6 and 8 so they suggested I come back in July. I was the only one there today and the lady put my whole order together as I watched and then had me go pay for everything and come back with my paid receipt. She had everything bagged for me ready to go and now that I'm home I can see she has put several of the wrong sizes in my bag. I stood and watched her pull everything from the shelves so in the 2 minutes it took me to pay, she mixed up my stuff. I should have double checked again, so now I have another run up there. Also, she (and admissions) said my PreK student can wear the PE shorts all day since it's easier for them to get them up and down. They are cotton and have the school emblem on them. But my KG2 student needs to wear the navy shorts with the zipper and button which is fine but they do NOT have the school emblem on them and can be any navy blue shorts that look like them. Plus the ones you buy from UAS aren't even hemmed, they are just a raw edge with a serger stitch on them. So I'll wait until I get to the states this summer and buy them there where they are cheaper and I can buy slim sizes.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 12 June 2012 - 22:03
What did he say about sharing a container? We are going to ship some things the first week of August but out of FL. We were going to use a 20 ft but I think we'll only use half of it.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 12 June 2012 - 21:33
Did you call Crowne Relocations yet? Also try Cartwright moving. Under the size of a 20 ft is called "lift van" and it's basically a big wooden box. Mayflower offers them. Look at this site and it gives you info about lift vans. http://www.sefco-export.com/whse2.htm
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 10 June 2012 - 20:49
Yes my kids have all PB furniture and bedding, rugs, etc. and we have a PB kitchen table. Some was purchased here and some in the states. I don't know what the discount is here, sorry. But I put our entire move on our credit card and then paid it off the next month. We had killer bonus points from the move, pet shipping, shipping cars, etc that I got PBK's gift cards and bought all my kiddos bedding with it and one son's Xmas bedding with it. I didn't pay any interest on the cc since I paid it off with our allowance but scored big time with the bonus points! So keep that in mind when paying for the move, you might earn bonus points too with your cc.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 10 June 2012 - 20:17
http://www.airanimal.com/ We used Air Animal to ship our Labrador. I would recommend them a million times over. They were fantastic! Our lab went from Houston to Frankfurt on Lufthansa and stayed there a day in their holding area and then the next day flew to Dubai and arrived about 2 hours after our flight. Our dog was in great condition and spent one day in Frankfurt being checked over by a vet to make sure she was in good health for the next leg and spent her time in a horse stall so she had lots of room to move around. When no horses are there, they put the large dogs in the horse pen so they have room but they are also walked every couple of hours.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 10 June 2012 - 20:12
We ended up using Mayflower to get our stuff here from TX and it went out of the port in Houston. I had quite a few quotes from different places and the one from Crown Relocation was the best and they used Mayflower. I just went back and looked at our invoice, we moved in a 20 ft container and had 4140 lbs and it was $7067 but we were quoted that for up to 6,000 lbs. They handled absolutely EVERYTHING from packing it up at the house to all the port stuff here to delivering it to the house to removing all the shipping packaging. It was in perfect condition and we didn't lift a finger. They were really easy. Our container was about 2/3 full. We didn't ship as much as we should have. We thought we'd do 2 years in Dubai and then head home (we had already done 3 years in AD with a furnished place and finally sold our house in the states and had to move out of our house in the states) so we only shipped over a little bit and put 12,000 lbs in storage in TX. Now we have decided to stay a lot longer and I want my stuff so we are doing another shipment this summer.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 10 June 2012 - 12:27
You will get your id tags and stickers in the first two weeks at school. For preK and kg2 the drop off is at the back parking gate 4. Just drive around the school and enter at that gate. I'm sorry for being such a pain, but where is the entrance? I know there is an entrance just to the left of the guard gate. Is that the gate I go into and then drive around to the back of the school? Whenever I go up to the school it's during school hours and that gate isn't open, just the one by the guard gate so I'm a little confused how to get to the back of the school.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 09 June 2012 - 19:36
Hello SunDevil, Good to know that your child will be attending UAS from September. We will be shifting to Dubai in August, but DH was there a month back and my son has been offered a place in year1. From your earlier post I understand that your child is exactly the same age as my son( he is Nov end 2006 born). I would like a little advice on where to live if the child attends UAS. DH's office is located in JOT, so we have rounded on Springs and Hayya club- within budget and close to office. Somewhere deep down I feel a little uncomfortable that my child will be travelling across the city everyday to attend school(planning to use the school bus). Coming from hong kong where everything is next door including school we are not comfortable travelling distances. How do you find the run from AR to UAS? Are you planning to pickup and drop your kid yourself everyday? Are there other options for pickup and drop to school from UAS Other than school bus or yourself as initially I woun't be having a license so cann't drop him myself? Your advice will be much appreciated as you are the only UAS parent I know in the opposite side of the city(although virtually ). Cheers, Sam Hi Sam, I'm not sure where JOT is at. I found the run from AR's to the door at UAS to be 30 minutes one way. Unfortunately my boys are dismissed at two different times so I will have to do that run three times per day. :( I have thought about putting my middle son on the bus for his noon release time but I really worry about the bus and would feel so guilty if anything happened to him on the bus when I could have picked him up. Plus he's still in a big car seat since he's just a little peanut and wouldn't have that one the bus.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 09 June 2012 - 19:34
I guess the good news is the rate stays the same through 5th grade and won't go up for another couple of years. I'm trying to find any ray of light here on this increase! Appletiser, can you help me with a few questions? In our registration packet I had to list our license plate numbers and it said it was for parking lot tags for drop off and pick up. When will we get those? We registered and paid back in March. Also, to drop off for PreK and KG2 do I pull into the gate at the front of the school and drive all the way around the back to that back lot by the KG side? And secondly, I've heard they aren't too strict on the dress code there and I can get plain navy blue shorts for my boys from any store and not just their uniform store. I'd like to get them this summer in the states where they are so cheap. What are the requirements for the shorts?
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 09 June 2012 - 09:20
I saw that yesterday. :( Fortunately my kiddos are still really young and under our allowance from DH's company but next year that will change.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 08 June 2012 - 21:04
Verdeque, if you'd like to "talk" more privately about schools, moving from the states, places to live, etc, you can email me. Let me know when you get the address so I can delete it. <em>edited by SunDevil on 08/06/2012</em>
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 08 June 2012 - 19:41
Glad to hear your trip went well. Sounds like you got to see a lot of Dubai! What is GCS telling you as far as spots available? The reason I ask is b/c in March they were completely full in the age groups you need and not accepting anyone for the waiting list as there were already 75 on the list for KG2 and they wouldn't even honor sibling priority b/c they were so full. DH and I went to that school and originally I wanted my two to go there b/c it was close. I have many friends that have their children there and they are kind of "meh" about the school. No one that I've met loves the school, they have their children there for various reasons; proximity, price, don't want to deal with moving three children to new schools, one child is there at GCS while another is at a top school and hoping to get both kids moved to the top school, etc. But no one (of all the mom's I've met) is there b/c they love the school. I went to a party this week with several GCS moms and a few more are pulling their kids from the school and many of them mentioned how unhappy they are that the rating dropped at the school and spoke of the # of teachers and admin leaving after this year. I met a mom at a birthday party last month and I asked where her children go and she almost didn't want to tell me they went to GCS. I asked her how she liked it and she sat a minute to think of a PC answer and then told me it was "okay" but she's not really happy with the school but living where they live, she doesn't want to make a long commute and is just going to keep them there and deal with it. So I guess I would wonder how a school would be so full two months ago then their new low rating comes out and now there are suddenly all these spots open. I've never been to Safa and don't know anyone that has gone there but it seems you don't find a lot of people on EW that speak badly of it. It seems like a really nice school and the new location will be an easy commute. Did you go to the Green community during peak times? You really need to see the traffic in and out of there to know if you could deal with that day in and day out.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 05 June 2012 - 21:14
I have bought bags of this at Safestway grocery store.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 05 June 2012 - 21:13
Spinneys in Motor City had it last week. It's in an end cap where they keep the milk and cheese. I was in the produce section searching everywhere when I broke down and asked someone and he took me to the end cap. It's also the section where they keep the ready cut fruits that are prepackaged.
SunDevil
774
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EW GURU
Latest post on 03 June 2012 - 21:10
I'm chuckling at everyone that is leaving theirs on 26 or 27 when they go away. I keep ours on 27 during the day when I'm home and only in the rooms we are using downstairs. Upstairs stays off until bedtime.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 02 June 2012 - 09:50
I rarely buy things here in Dubai when I can get it in the states for a fraction of the cost. It's even cheaper for me to buy in the states and send it to my Aramex/Shop and Ship account. There is a pair of shorts at the Gap that I've had my eye on but they are 230 dhs or $62 USD and in the states they are $32 USD or 117 dhs. I refuse to buy them here. Verdeque, you better stock up before you get here on Legos and hide them until the occasion to give them. Same goes for Imaginext. You won't find that here. I saw one thing here and it was a Cars 2 Mater toy but that's been it. My SIL and BIL came for Xmas and brought my boys the Imainext Super Friends Bat Cave in a large suitcase. This past summer I found a lady on Craig's List selling all her son's Imaginext stuff and bought everything. She practically gave it away and had all the pieces to every little person and it was in perfect condition. We were allowed 12 suitcases between all of our family and I used the full allotment! LOL I brought back an Imaginext castle, pirate ships, Space Shuttle and launch pad, and lots of other toys that I can't find here. I shop ebay here but I don't have my things sent directly here. I have the sellers send them to my NY shop and ship account (SNS) and then SNS sends them here.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 02 June 2012 - 09:37
so, like a complete idiot I stayed up till 1 am reading horror stories on EW about huntsman spiders, camel spiders (holy ****), scorpions, rats, redback spiders and cockroaches, many of them in the Ranches!!!!!!!!!!!! So, puhleeze tell me that I don't need to worry about living there!!! Based on the stories I got whipped up into a completely irrational frenzy and told my DH there was no way I was living in AR. Now that it's NOT the middle of the night, I'm back to my senses, but would love assurances!!! I'll bet you are the kind of person that will use Dr. Google for a cold and be convinced you are surely dying of some crazy disease!! LOL I promise you that the Ranches are completely safe to live in! The only insect I have had a problem with is ants but not fire ants like in the states. I have those teeny little brown ants in my kitchen despite all mine and my maid's efforts to keep the place cleaned and free from anything that will attract the ants. I was going crazy with the ant problem and one night came in the kitchen for something and flipped on the light and a gecko scurried up my wall. Gecko's don't scare me (I'm from AZ and TX). About a day or two later I noticed I didn't have any ants at all. The gecko had taken care of them all. I let him stay in the kitchen for a couple weeks and finally caught him and released him outside. It's been several months and now I have ants again. *&%$ I'm ready to go outside and find another gecko to live in my kitchen. We have pest control come out once a year and treat the house and have not had any problems with spiders, scorpions, or roaches. When we lived in a "local's area" in AD we had roaches so bad we finally had to move. It was disgusting. There are rats here in the Ranches but we haven't seen any of them. (touch wood) We don't have them in the house or yard. Our biggest problem is the neighbor's peacock that wants to sit on top of my minivan at night. LOL One thing to pay attention to when house hunting, AR's is more westernized when it comes to things like storage cabinets, bathroom vents. When we lived in AD we lived in a neighborhood that was locals only in a stand alone villa. It was very lonely not to have any neighbors that we could do things with. I was spit on by Emirati children when walking to the local grocery store and that was the house with all the roaches. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. Our kitchen cabinets were a rather interesting design color choice and the tile work in every room and bathroom was so tacky with pepto bismal pink or french blue or gray. It would have brought a tear to Liberace's eye. Here in the Ranches we have cherry cabinets like what we have in the states, granite countertops, tumbled tile back splashes. In the bathrooms we have granite countertops with full cabinets and storage drawers. In the AD house we only had free standing pedestal sinks so we had to buy storage for all of our bathrooms. Some places here have sinks that come straight out of the wall but nothing underneath for storage so you see the pipes showing. Again you'll have to buy storage for your bathrooms. The bathroom vents were in the window with a hole cut out and the vent stuck in there so you got to see the whole fan and components. Here our vents are built into the ceiling like in the states. You'll see the difference when you get here and start looking around at the housing choices. It's just a really nice place to live with all the neighbors, parks, running/biking trails, grocery stores and restaurants, and pools that are heated and chilled year round so you can use them all the time. Good luck with your trip. It's not as bad as your web hunting is letting on. I have three children here and wouldn't live somewhere that wasn't safe or could run the risk of a camel spider carrying my 10 month old off to the dessert. LOL
SunDevil
774
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EW GURU
Latest post on 31 May 2012 - 20:06
I don't know for sure as I do that drive at different times of the day and never at school time but normally it's about 15-20 minutes. I would go up 311 and go left on 66 over to Safa and avoid the big r/a on Umm Sequim.
SunDevil
774
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EW GURU
Latest post on 31 May 2012 - 19:57
An AR's to Safa to Internet City would be a longggg run for your DH to do. Safa and IC are on opposite sides of town. But AR's to IC is an easy commute. The church I attend is right near there and it's easy to get to. The Villa is a compound north of the Ranches on 311. It's right along 311 and 66.
SunDevil
774
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EW GURU
Latest post on 31 May 2012 - 18:49
I don't necessarily believe in living right next to your school. Our boys will go to UAS and I don't want to live up there. I love AR's and it's worth it to me to have the great neighbors and amenities like the shopping center, pools, parks, Polo Club, to make the drive to their school. The new location of Safa school is an easy run from AR's or Meadows. Green Community would be far and their giant roundabout and entrance/exit is a real hassle. You'll see what I'm talking about when you go there.
SunDevil
774
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EW GURU
Latest post on 31 May 2012 - 16:54
what power transformers do you use for your mixers/coffee machines? i always get so confused when i go to look! We have a Terminator 3000W Model: TACC 3000W that I use to run my mixers. DH got it at MCC at I think Jumbo electronics. I can run my Kitchen Aide and my Cuisinart at the same time. It can handle a lot. We also shipped both of our cars from the states. It was easy and affordable. Great minds think alike huh DlnAces21? *Wink Wink*
SunDevil
774
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EW GURU
Latest post on 31 May 2012 - 10:04
We moved from the USA to Dubai almost 3 years ago. The advice we got from fellow Americans who had been living here for several years already was to leave everything behind and buy new electrical items here. We mostly followed that advice and have regretted it ever since. We brought our receiver, PS3, TiVo (not in use right now), and speaker system. They all plugged into a large transformer in the living room. We left behind our lamps which could have easily fit into the same transformer by adding an extension cord. I brought our baby's video monitor and that is plugged into a small transformer in our bedroom and, again, I wish I had brought our lamps because they would have fit into it as well. My biggest regret is all the small kitchen appliances that we left behind. My husband would not part with his burr mill coffee grinder so we have another small transformer set up in the kitchen for it. It has two plugs, so I'm able to plug in our crock pot as well. That was what I didn't know: you can plug 2 items into a small transformer and, I think, 4-6 into a large one. You can definitely bring your items over. I wish we had brought it all, but I'm sure there are people that would rather buy the proper electricity and not mess with transformers and converters. This is us too except we've been here four years. Everyone said don't bring your stuff and buy new here. Well A)it adds up really fast when you have to re-buy everything, and B) the stuff I bought here is A LOT more expensive than in the US and I like the look of my things in the US better. Plus when we move back to the states, I have all these electronic items that won't work in the US that I have to deal with selling here. So after all of that, we are doing another shipment this summer out of our storage in the states and I'm shipping over all of my lamps, our BOSE system and our plasma tv. I did initially ship my heavy duty Kitchen Aide over and my big Cuisinart over and use a big transformer for them and they work just fine. I also shipped over my boys' sound machine/night lights and those run on a tiny transformer that I plug into the wall. It's about 2" by 3" and goes right into the socket and then the plug goes in that. Barely noticeable. And I'll do the same when I ship over my lamps. I did leave my Dyson in the states as it would be the big transformer and that thing is too heavy to drag room to room to keep vacuuming. Also, we listened to people that said to leave all your stuff behind in storage and just buy new and I regret that b/c I want my stuff. I like how my stuff looked in my home in the states and I miss the look I had there. I'm so sick of shopping at Ikea and having the same stuff as everyone else, so when we do our container this summer, all my decor is coming over, all my kitchen stuff (Pampered Chef, Calphalon cookware), artwork, mirrors, outdoor stuff like tents and sun covers, it's all coming over. I should have done that originally.
SunDevil
774
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EW GURU
Latest post on 23 May 2012 - 13:14
Are you sure Greenfield has a place for your 5 year old? In March they closed their waiting list as it already had 75 children on it and it was even closed to sibling priority. So I would double and triple check that they really have an opening. I know a lot of parents aren't happy with Greenfield so they must be having a mass exodus if there are spots now.
SunDevil
774
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EW GURU
Latest post on 19 May 2012 - 12:20
This is a great addition for everyone!
SunDevil
774
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EW GURU
Latest post on 18 May 2012 - 19:46
I just hit a mother load of ideas with this site: http://4herreras.blogspot.com/
SunDevil
774
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EW GURU
Latest post on 18 May 2012 - 19:41
SunDevil....are you by any chance from Arizona? ;)
SunDevil
774
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EW GURU
Latest post on 18 May 2012 - 17:12
I forgot about ice skating and bowling and I didn't know there was an indoor zoo. Thank you!
SunDevil
774
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EW GURU
Latest post on 18 May 2012 - 13:42
American Cheerios - the ones in the yellow box that are savoury, not sweet! You can get those at Safestway. I have a box on my counter right now. I always do my bi-weekly cereal run to Safestway just to get the good American cereals.
SunDevil
774
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EW GURU
Latest post on 18 May 2012 - 13:40
The sooner you accept that things here are significantly more money than in the states, the better you'll sleep at night. LOL It just costs a lot more here in Dubai. I buy Royal Canin for our dog and it would be $54 in the states at Petsmart. Here it's 300 dhs or $81 US. RC is a good dog food and is by no means Ol Roy from Walmart but you just pay more for things here. You will not find Lawry's seasoned salt here so bring your own.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 18 May 2012 - 13:30
Thank you for the suggestions. I've found a lot of stuff but I was looking for some ideas of things locally that are best done in the summer. For example one day we'll go to Dreamland or Ceramique. Goose I didn't think about starting some Christmas ornaments. That's a good idea b/c I always wait until the last minute. On my list of things to do around the house: Make a bird feeder from apples and peanut butter Pasta necklaces Bead necklaces Homemade ice cream and ice cream sandwiches Homemade slime (I'll have to wait until we get back from the states where I can get Borax) Make fruit kabobs Tie Dye shirts Work a large puzzle on the dining room table (this one can take several days) Have a bubble party in the backyard "Paint" with water and paint brushes on the back fence And I'm still searching for more.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 18 May 2012 - 10:43
I'm already going crazy with the kids not getting as much time outdoors as they normally get with the heat and I'm looking for ideas to do for June and part of July. I saw an idea on Pinterest where you write ideas on a clothes pin and clip them to the outside of a tin bucket. Once you've done the idea you toss it into the bucket. It can be simple things like make root beer floats or build a tent in the family room from sheets and blankets, but I was hoping you ladies could give me some ideas of things to do out of the house. My boys are 5.5 and 3.5 years old. Any suggestions?
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 17 May 2012 - 21:49
Maybelline and Cover Girl are not that common here. Clinique is easy to find but I don't know about the price as I don't use that brand. I do miss going to Target and browsing the aisles for the latest colors of nail polish, lip gloss, or eye shadow from Maybelline and CG. Sometimes I find it at Spinneys here but it's VERY limited. Not like the huge aisles you'll find in the states. Maybelline is actually common IMO, just passed big display table/shelf at Carrefour this afternoon, at the entrance..I believe they have regular shelf in the cosmetics dep. But, agree for Cover Girl, I don't think I ever saw it here... ;) edited by Goose on 17/05/2012 Yes, I meant CG wasn't as easy to find. DH is in the states right now on business and he has a list of CG eyeliners I want him to buy. LOL
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 17 May 2012 - 21:01
The only thing I stocked up on before coming over was Bounce dryer sheets. They sell them here at Safestway but they are pretty pricey. So I went to Sam's and bought the largest box I could last summer when we were home and they have lasted me this far. I'll pick more up in July when we go home again. You can get the Swiffer and Windex supplies at Safestway and Ace and Chlorox is easy to find here. I don't know what Wellness is but we order all our dog food from Dubai Pet Food. They are wonderful and deliver to your house for free. Maybelline and Cover Girl are not that common here. Clinique is easy to find but I don't know about the price as I don't use that brand. I do miss going to Target and browsing the aisles for the latest colors of nail polish, lip gloss, or eye shadow from Maybelline and CG. Sometimes I find it at Spinneys here but it's VERY limited. Not like the huge aisles you'll find in the states. I don't clean my floors or dust...my maid does it. LOL But she vacuums and mops about 3 times per week. I buy Pinesol for the floors and it always smells sooo good when she's finished. She dusts once a week.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 17 May 2012 - 19:47
I'm putting my son in KG2 but he will be one of the oldest in his class with a Nov birthday where he will turn 6. Here in Dubai many of the schools have a Dec 31st cut off so technically he's eligible for 1st grade but if I put him in 1st grade he'll be the baby when we return to the states b/c the cutoff in the states is typically in August or beginning of Sept. So it's my choice to place him in KG2. We were offered a spot Gems DSO and he would have been in their Year 1 there b/c it's a British school and they call the grades by different names. You mentioned AR's. We are in the Ranches and LOVE it! We used to live in AD and moved to Dubai specifically to live in the Ranches and now DH commutes to AD for work. My school run to UAS will be 30 minutes each way but that's the cost of doing business in Dubai. Fortunately AR's runs along 311 and it's really easy to get all over Dubai from the Ranches, so I don't think anyone that lives here will say they feel like they are out in the boonies especially since there is so much out here now.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 17 May 2012 - 13:21
I've never heard of AUS, did you mean UAS?
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 16 May 2012 - 17:24
Just for the future, at Lakeland they sell magnets that stick to the fridge that converts American to metric. My recipes are from the states but most of the ingredients here are sold by the metric system so I use that to help me convert between the two.
SunDevil
774
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 15 May 2012 - 22:58
Well we are in the Ranches and my DH commutes to AD so I think everything's close compared to his commute. LOL My school run to UAS will be 30 minutes one way so one hour round trip. I'll do that three times per day b/c the boys have two different pick up times. But that's the thing about schools here, there isn't one perfect school and everything is give and take and for us, my drive will be the give. I think one thing to remember about Dubai is everything is going to be a bit of a drive. It's pretty spread out so just accept now that you will spend quite a bit of time in your car and you'll be okay.
 
 
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