111

111 days until I board the plane with the munchkins for the home country. But, in the mean time.....

My cousin and his wife will be here in about 3 weeks. While they are here, we're gonna go ALL over. We're especially excited about showing them Oman. I can't wait.

Munchkin #2 is running a fever, so it's been a quiet day. Munchkin #1 and I made it out for a bit and down to the beach to kick the ball around. Lots of people laying on the beach, but folks don't seem to be swimming much yet. The water looked lovely.

The husband stays busy with work which is a good thing. He seems to be pretty happy.

Well, I can smell the banana bread just out of the oven; the husband and munchkin #1 have been busy baking.

Music

Just a little tidbit. We pulled out the 'Baby Taylor' (a six string guitar) and our music from our time with Common Grounds and sang and played just now. Felt great. First time in months we felt like shaking up our 'evening time' together. Music is a good thing. Got asked this morning if we were musicians. Didn't know how to respond immediately. 'Contemplation' is necessary in this matter.

The prayer/worship this morning was a good thing (no duh!).

Peace.

'Thinking Time'

We went to a place of worship/prayer again today, the same place we went to last week. Our return did not go unnoticed. I'm assisting for the first time there in March - with an age group I feel VERY experienced in working with already. Feels good to have my name 'on a list' again. Our previous attempt at a place of worship/prayer was more accepting of the Husband than of me by virtue of his gender. Not a happy place for me. How can you live out what you feel flowing from something within if you're being told you're no good by virtue of your birth? This is a place of worship that seems to be actively looking for people with some of the skill sets I and the Husband possess. So, please, if you would, I humbly request that you spend some time "contemplating" these things as appropriate. I know that I will most definitely be doing some thinking and "contemplating" on this!

And......to change the topic.....

Was reading on-line (but I do prefer an actual paper in my hands!), and came across some stuff some of you might find interesting. Really, has nothing to do with my comments at the top of this post. I just don't feel like making two separate posts.

http://www.gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi_arabia/10191824.html

http://www.gulfnews.com/news/gulf/bahrain/10191590.html

http://www.gulfnews.com/articles/08/01/21/10183676.html

http://www.gulfnews.com/unwind/Lifestyle/10189963.html Yup, I freely admit it. I've got 5 bottles of the stuff on my sink as I type this. So, is my cheese slipping off my cracker? Ha, ha.

Peace.

Of Mom and Chainsaws

There's a shamal blowing outside, so I will not be traveling this weekend. Ah, life in the desert. Full moon, cold wind, LOADS of sand.

Now, on to more important stuff....

Yup. In some odd/strange/fun way, I've had an influence on my daughter. Over pizza this evening (pepperoni, black olive, and mushroom), Munchkin #2 asked me for an old piece of paper out of my purse. I was happy to oblige, and the Husband provided the pen. A description of the artwork created (see above) going from left to right: porcupine, butterfly being caught on the tongue of a 'lizard thing', a crane, Mom/Mum (ie me) with a chain saw, a rabbit, and a bear peeking out from behind the tree. Fun - yes. Cute - yes. Twisted - well, a little. At least the bear isn't attacking me. The drawing she made for my office/desk has me picking apples being attacked by a very happy looking bear.

After ingesting a copious quantity of pizza, the husband proclaimed that we should begin our major summer family project. He wants to shop for used gear to capture on film the bear that dines at the 'bear log' on the tree farm. I have no idea what it costs; I have no clue if my uncle has ever tried this at another family imfamous critter dining spot. But, what a hoot to even think about it. The munchkins are very keen on the idea. So, we shall see. If we pull this off, I'll post whatever snaps/footage I can.

Oooooo...newsflash. The husband, on his computer, just found infrared "digital game cams" for $100-$400 U.S. Ooooooo, ooooo, ooooooo.....time to add a line item to the budget? Hmmm, maybe. Hope, hope, hope.

Peace and happy woodsy dreams (with maybe a fish thrown in). Just hope for no obnoxious (but cute) porcupines chewing on the side of your building during the night. Sounds really loud.

Roadside Shopping

Well, my spring holiday is upon me in a few weeks. My cousin and his wife are going to be visiting my area of the world. I can't wait to take them on 'walk-about'. And, I can't wait to take them to this little roadside/middle of 'no-where' place for handmade pottery stuff. The drive up into the mountains from this little stand is fabulous. It's not really the middle of no-where, but I have no idea if this is in Oman or the UAE. Ah well. It's all good. Note the mountains appearing in the background on the left.

Work is good. It's nice to FINALLY be back to normal after being sick for so long.

We visited a place of worship last week and REALLY liked it. My oldest cousin would feel right at home there! The kids didn't hate it, so the future looks good.

Peace.

Not so yucko - same day

Chicken soup is still in me, so I thought I'd type a bit more.

I recently ordered a book which came in the other day (right before I got sick). The husband and munchkins were busy, so I took my favorite set of wheels and went to go pick it up. I bought my book (after much confusion and searching at the information counter) and went to a near-by coffee place to do a bit of reading and enjoy a coffee.

Coffee in hand, I sat at the back of this very busy place facing out to the 'rest of the world.' My eyes (and mind) wandered up out of my book, and I began to people watch. It's such a strange sensation to be sitting in a public place surrounded by others and yet to be totally alone. As the mother of two children, this kind of thing doesn't happen to me very often.

It's so funny to me - even though I live in a TOTALLY different place from the rest of my family, I almost never feel REALLY alone. Being able to type my brain wanderings here on my blog, being able to read the blogs of friends and family, being able to post comments to some of those blogs, well it helps. Of course, especially those of you who know my 'spiritual' background, I believe none of us is ever really alone.

And, now for a complete "brain-fart":
For those of you reading this who are not familiar with certain types of politics:
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/ http://www.barackobama.com/index.php
http://www.johnmccain.com/
Who would you choose and why?

Yucko

Well, I'm at home today instead of at work. I've been having a nasty battle with a stomach flu/bug thing. The sign shown above sums up how I've been feeling - yucko.

At any rate, I'm doing better, obviously. It's nice to be able to peel myself off the bathroom floor. Normally, I only get a 'stomach bug' maybe once a year. This is my second round with a tummy bug in 6 months. Again, yucko.

Gotta love politics. I'm getting 'reports' from family in other countries about what's happening politically in their countries. Really, wild and crazy stuff.

Well, back to my gatoraide and chicken soup.

Peace.

Weirdest of the weird!

Ok. This hermit crab was so big and 'weird' he was totally cool! I took this snap at an aquarium about a year ago. But still, I love the crab.

Work has been very busy - which is a good thing. But, some days, I'm trying to be in two places at once. It can get a bit hairy since folks then wonder where I am! Ah well, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

I've been doing a touch of reading on some 'current' stuff. Here are the links to what I found to be the most interesting:

http://www.itp.net/news/510232-flag-plays-down-net-blackout-conspiracy-theories

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/us/politics/07dems.html?exprod=myyahoo

The first article is particularly worth a read. I just thought the second was interesting for some reason or another....

Tonight, it's time to head out on a 'burger quest.' We need to hunt down and snarf (eat) an extremely good beef burger. This is a perilous quest. First, the place in which to hunt must be selected. Then, we must brave the jungle of cars and roads. If we are close to success, then we will have reached the hunting grounds with the munchkins still awake and not to tired to snarf. May the quest be fruitful!!!!!! (or full of frenchfries/chips/fried potatoes).

Peace and cool runnins'.

Happiness and Peace

In our family, thanks to my mum, we have a 'strange' holiday tradition of making 'gingerbread houses' out of graham crackers. In recent years, we have evolved past the standard houses. This year we had a sail boat (lines made of pasta), a sea shack, and a fortress being attacked by gummy octopuses imprisoning the gummy bears among other bizarre ideas within the family. Lovely happy fun.

As I go about my day, I sometimes have to dig deep to find moments of peace. Even when things are swirling around in the world, if I can stop and refocus - search for that ultimate peace - then I find I feel happy and better.

No matter where one goes, the world just seems to be flying along at mach 10. But....that doesn't mean we have to fly along with it.

Here's to goofy fun family traditions.

Peace.

And....FYI news bit:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/02/01/internet.outage/index.html

Of camels, sand and communication

Greetings; so sorry it's been so long since I have posted. Things have been very busy for me, but some things these days have been running slower than is normal. We've had some massive sand storms in the region over the past 48 hours. We make a mad dash for the car and then swish water in our mouthes to help get rid of the grit. Shawls are a welcome addition to the outside clothes right now. And...found an interesting news story:

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/01/repair-ships-head-to-damaged-telecom-cables-as-web-service-slowly-returns/

Work has been humming along. The husband's 'blackburp' has been buzzing constantly today - good for business, bad for a day off. He's been adding a third brakelight to my vehicle of choice and rotating my tires. I love my vehicle! And, love the husband!

My work has been extra rewarding lately. I've been able to use some of my skills/knowledge from my first round of university. Great fun. What I've been up to is a touch out of the norm for someone in my job position, but the extra flexing of my gray matter sure has been a joyous thing.

Again, it was so nice having my mum here! And, now that there are lots of sales in many stores in the large cities, I wish my shopping buddy was still here! I really need a new pair of shoes for work. My old brown ones are looking at bit rough.

Munchkin #2 is playing at a neighbors at the moment. She turned her wheeled cart into a rolling Barbie/Fulla/Sara transport. She's got boxes taped to the side for holding the little plastic hamsters. The whole set-up is then rolled back and forth between her room and the neighbor's.

Munchkin #1 is watching a bit 'o TV after finishing up a book report for school. He had to create a biography/book on someone from history. He was having a bit of trouble figuring out how to 'bind' it, so I helped. I just hope I didn't help too much. I'm very sensitive to the fact that kids need to do their own work - not turn in mum's and dad's work.

I've been doing a bit of extra reading lately. I've been working my way through a fictional series (3 books) by Marek Halter. Truly entertaining stuff. Just picked up a 'book of wisdom' written by a former headmaster from Sidwell Friends School Day School, and a biography on Galileo by Michael White. I'm finally finishing up a 'history' book by Ruth A. Tucker and Walter Liefeld. It's been a bit of a cumbersome read but worth the knowledge gained. I was the VERY grateful receipient of some book store gifts cards for Christmas and my birthday from some of my co-workers. I've been putting the cards to good use!

The spellchecker is not functioning, so my apologies if there are any gross errors. And isn't the baby camel up above cute?
Peace be upon you.