Thankful Thursday

All the late nights and hard work are slowly paying off. It has not been an easy journey.And being married to a workaholic is far more difficult that you can imagine.

Hubby takes his work very, very personal. He works late at nights or gets up very early to do more. Sometimes he will go to office at 4am in the morning. I have shared photos of his projects and those towers, he does not do them one at a time. They are to work on them all at the same time. That is how to work in the desert.

We arrived Dubai in May 2006. Hubby was hired from Saudi Arabia as Structural Engineer. In 2008, he was made Design Manager for the Hollowcore Department. It was a position created for him and a promotion that shook the entire design section. Some of his closest friends in the office asked,"Why, what did you do?"

Those comments were very sad to hear but coupled with more hard work and prayers, Hubby proved his co-workers two things: 1) that his then Chief Engineer was never wrong about his potential; and 2) that he deserved the promotion.

Andreas was one a month old when Hubby received that recognition. And because he felt the pressure that they were expecting more from him, he worked every Saturday in the office for the next 4 months. Not wanting to miss on Daddy duties, he will bring us with him to the office. We will clear some space so Andreas can sleep on the table. 

I enjoyed it at first few weeks. Then I got bored staring at the ceiling and listening to phone ringing. So after a month, Hubby decided he will drop us at Mall Of Emirates on weekends while he work in their office.Andreas and I then spent every Saturday for the next three months in the shopping mall. We got acquainted with the lady cleaners and  I nursed him in all the baby room available. It was very hard as I needed an emotional support rather than go window shopping.  But Hubby needed to stay in the office for the three of us to survive.

It was around 2010 that he relaxed a little. He has established his authority. People enjoy working for and with him. He was trained to become one of the company's accredited office auditors. He was witness of fact in one of UPC'c biggest arbitration case.

About two months ago, the CEO informed him that he is up for another promotion. We were soo over the moon! We thank God that he continues to give us enough so we can be of help to other people. Hubby immensely loves doing charity works. He is probably one of the most compassionate people you'll ever meet. I just don't blog about them to protect the people involved. We know in our heart that these people continue to pray for us.

Thank you to all who sent their messages of kudos. This has been very lengthy but I just want to answer one question sent by a friend which she included in the message.

How do you handle being the wife of the manager?

I haven't read a book about it but based on common sense and listening to that little voice inside me, I got by doing these:

1. Never ask how much your husband earns.

2. Show interest in his work. It may sound very, very technical at first but you can always Google or visit Wikipedia.

3. Try to know more about the subordinate staff. If they have kids, send a small present. This will endear your husband more to his staff. It shows he cares for them, not just what they can do for the company.

4. If you know you are bound to ran into your husband's staff and co-workers, dress up but keep accessories to a minimum. There is nothing more cruel than showing everyone you can buy yourself a necklace from Damas. You maybe your husband's trophy but let the dress do the talking.

5. December means giving everyone a chocolate bar.

6. Remind your husband to reward the tea boy, cleaners, and security guards from time to time.

7. Let him have thirty minutes or an hour to himself upon arriving from work.

8. Take care of the holiday details.

9. Don't call or e-mail or text him at work unless your apartment is on fire. Let him concentrate at work so he can concentrate on you when he comes home =)

10. Do charity work.