Taking on the jellies!

Not much time to type tonight. It's 10:30pm and I need sleep. Here's what the jelly did to me, and here's the jelly (still can't believe my husband got this shot. I think he took this right before I got stung). Uncle B, what kind of jelly is this? It REALLY hurt. Not like a Portugese Man of War, but still it was not comfortable. The urine really took the sting out. Nasty, interesting, but nasty.

More fish stuff later. Peace.

Here fishy, fishy, fishy!!!!!!

Finally, back at the computer and back at my blog! Whew! Been crazy bad and good. My grandfather passed away a few days ago. But, my cousin and his wife are here visiting, so it's been a good thing being together. We were enjoying a meal overlooking the Gulf and raised our glasses (no, we were drinking Pepsi) to Grandpa the day he passed. We love you, Grandpa. We will miss you, but we know you are happy with Grandma!

We went out to Khasab, Oman for a few days of 4X4 driving and fish chasing. The video posted is of some 'fish chasing.' Fabulous stuff.

It's good to be 'home.' Being in the home country for a few days was a very good thing, but it's nice to be back with my husband and munchkins. Not to mention, warmish ocean water is a lovely thing!

The hotel we stayed in Oman had lovely balconies. We looked out over the water and saw some things swimming around. The things turned out to be some rather large sharks. And, there were some jelly fish in the water. The sharks stayed away from where we were snorkeling, but I managed to contact a jelly with my upper right arm. It shocked me a bit! My cousin was swimming with me in a full wetsuit, so I clung to his shoulders from the back and he towed me in. I could swim fine, but we thought it better to let his wet suit encounter any other jellies rather than my bare arms. I found some vinegar to dump over the sting, but I can assure that it is not a myth that human urine works to ease the sting! A sample of urine in a plastic hotel cup worked MUCH better on my arm than the vinegar did! Of course, I cleaned up with soap and water as well.

I learned about international travel from my grandparents. What a wonderful gift they gave me! Bringing exotic things home for me and telling me their stories. I am deeply honored to have been blessed with such wonderful grandparents.

Wild, wild few weeks

This snap is a few years old of my tree farm 'summer home.' The family/grandparents' tree farm purchased a pop-up camper a few years back for extra sleeping room. The family has grown, but the cabin has not. My kids always want to stay in the camper when we're up there. I really enjoy the camper, too. It's cozy and comfortable, but you can still hear the critters outside. Including the not-so-brilliant porcupine that decided to chew on a trailer and the machine shed the last time we were there.

The past few weeks have been very wild, but you probably already knew that since I've only made one post in March so far. I made a trip (it's a LONG story I won't get into) back to the home country this past week. I'm really glad I was able to go. I'm also grateful my work let me have the time off so I could make the trip. It was a bit strange returning to the desert last night after being in below freezing temperatures and snowfall. My first flight coming home was late due to a blizzard. When I got back to the heat here, my husband had modified my vehicle a bit (if you know what I drive this will make more sense). It was really strange driving around with the warmish wind.

My cousin and his wife (T&S) will be here very late tomorrow night. We are all totally psyched. I brought back a quilt from a store 'back home' that sells handmade things from local people. So, now I have a nice new quilt for my guest bedroom. And, since I knew T&S are bringing some yummies for us here, I loaded up an extra check bag with toys for my kids, new clothing bits and a big new pillow for me. It's a good thing to be able to shop in the home country.

I found an article in the NYTimes:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/business/23haggle.html?em&ex=1206417600&en=1f71cf57986b3fa8&ei=5087%0A&exprod=myyahoo

Where I live, we haggle all the time. And, as the article says, you can't get a good deal unless you're armed with information. If I walk into a shop, and I've NEVER seen a type of item before, chances are I'm going to get taken on the price. It took me a lot of roaming around asking prices and watching others before I knew what were good prices and what were not. But, what these big stores in the States might want to think about is that 'I' go back to the stores that haggle, but I REALLY shop in the stores that I don't have to haggle with for extensive periods of time for every single item. Otherwise, shopping becomes more work than fun. To haggle is ok, to have to haggle for 30 minutes for a $10 shawl is not. At that point, I walk away. And this isn't just me - it's other consumers I know here as well.

Oh for warm water!

Rant time.....

Clean the house, clean the house, clean the house....yucko....

Sold the car in the home country, but now need to buy a cheap/simple something to have in the home country (old truck is on it's last leg).....car shopping....yucko.....at least shopping in the middle east has prepped me for this....

Saw a lady in high heels and fancy 'beach clothes' carrying a fluffy little white dog just leave my building to head for the beach......why?........

Oh for warm water!!!!.....Can swim with the fishes and crabs....life is simple in the water.......

Life is constantly changing and moving......oh for some time in warm water......

Woke up on my back this morning..dreaming I was laying in the spare bed at my mum and dad's....opened my eyes...closed 'em quick and slept for another 2 hours......oh for some warm salt water!

Peace be upon you.......