Abi:original - If you aren't original, what are you?

Life on a beach Not every hotel can claim 5-star status. It comes after careful examination of amenities. Adherence to international standards must be met. A visit to preview the latest offering of Al Raha Beach Hotel’s Azur Restaurant, came my way. Since I’m based in the northern Emirates it was going to be a three-and-a-half-hour journey to Abu Dhabi. No distance is an obstacle when it comes to work and so I went to check out the property.  Azur is a casual dining restaurant that has both outdoor and indoor seating options. The recently revamped menu harbours a homely Italian Trattoria. The turquoise-hued place is buzzing with people when I finally arrive. The first course is already over and done with and people are digging in to their Mushroom Risotto. A dish I thoroughly enjoyed. For anyone who favours Italian cuisine, there was a lot more headed our way. In came a succulent Lamb Shank or lamb ossobucco, which was served with its own beef sauce. The music ...

Toddlers can do it with ease. In fact it is often times the first word they utter repeatedly.  Would you like to eat, No.  Want to sleep - no.  Got to bed, no.  Be quiet. NO! There are a multitude of words in the English language but perhaps few are quite as brutal as this. And yet after a sufficient amount of my existence, I often find it hard to stand my ground. To say no and be okay with it. It isn't easy to be a stay at home mom. Often times I wonder who conjured up the title. Besides running a home which usually includes the cooking, cleaning and running of errands, I also try to earn a living. Be that as it may I often find it hard to describe what I do to total strangers.    One is regularly bombarded with requests to edit resumes, answer the door bell, fix someone's broken class project, baby sit the neigbours pet hamster for a few days, fix someone's mobile phone... you get the drift.  The house help often think it is easy to canc...