Getting organised, and ice skating in the tropics

So I knew I was being a bit slack, but it has taken an influx of new teachers (the school year started 2 weeks ago) to make me get organised in the house department. I was making do very nicely, and had convinced myself that I didn't need anything else, but then I got the opportunity to go on a shopping trip to a big hardware shop, which resulted in the following (awesome) shelves:

I got a few comments along the lines of "those shelves look too rickety Alice, be careful!" which was an interesting lesson in perspective/the way pictures can be misleading. In reality, the only thing wonky about my shelves was the bar near the top for hanging things! It's straight now, as you can see, and having everything lined up, not piled all over the microwave, fridge and floor makes me happy :-)

Now I have grand plans for more shelves, a better tv stand (the tv in my place is so ancient - I had almost forgotten tv's were anything but thin), a shoe rack and something to organise my desk with. The neat freak in me will be satisfied for a while!

I will finish with a photo I took on our day off on Friday (for the first day of Ramadan - more on that later). I can now say I've been ice skating in a tropical country - so deliciously ridiculous and fantastic at the same time ;-) The really strange thing was the doors were open the whole time! I have no idea why; in my experience ice skating rinks are usually designed to jealously keep the cool in, not let in the tropical heat! It did result in a rather mysterious mist, which was fun. The only downside to all of this was leaving - it felt so hot outside!