Holiday Scenes

 Our first Christmas in Doha is quickly flying by. Our 6th Christmas out of the US. I keep thinking that one year we need to get back and celebrate. I especially think that when I hear that we missed another big snowfall in Texas. Not sure my kids will forgive us for that. But we have had a good time this year. Ryan came, then headed to Kabul to be with Russell and then both of them showed up here together. What a great time it's been!

Shakespeares opened just before Russell and Ryan arrived in Doha. We celebrated by having breakfast there.  It's the first Shakepeares in Qatar..and a block from our house(.It felt like home to us since we spent so much time there when we lived in Abu Dhabi. )  Although Russell was only able to stay for a few days, we all had a good time and packed a lot in. I think my favorite Christmas activity was sailing on Saturday around the city and relaxing in the sunshine. We rented two boats and took a four hour sail. It was a bit rough at first as both the boys were beat from just getting back from Kabul the night before, but I think the time to relax and soak up the sun eventually felt good.    Also included in our time was a trip to the singing sand dunes. Kids were a bit disappointed on that one as they weren't singing too much. Someone said it has to do with all the rain they have had here recently. ( Someone mentioned going to youtube and you can find videos of the singing part.)

We had Christmas dinner with new friends we have made in Doha. Sure appreciated them including us in their festivities. And of course, Christmas morning was presents and laughter and cinnamon coffee cake.

Oh ... Something else we miss about Christmas in the US.   Mike used to bring so many fun gifts home from contractors and stuff. Fruit baskets, honeybaked hams, etc. But not here, nope..He did however, bring some stuff from work though. In honor of Qatar National Day.  A radio, a calendar, a journal and a cookie. :)  but no honey baked hams.

Cooking and Baking, Baking and Cooking

Creating

Chef Ryan and proud dad. 

Decorating Cookies! The cookies were gone in a couple of hous. Robert was not happy!

Julene and I made a chocolate pie. Yum. 

Shopping at the Doha Souk. 

Ryan arrived on Saturday and grilled us a delicious dinner on Sunday!  Also at our table that night were our friends, the Sawayas.  Honestly, having them here with Ryan really made it feel like Christmas.  Cookies, Christmas music, laughter, heart to heart talks.  And even some different weather..Look closely at the picture with Ryan cooking...RAIN.  For a whole day it rained.  Drank some hot cider and pretended it was snow. :)

Ryan is with Russell in Kabul right now. From his facebook statuses I think it is a wee bit colder there. Both the boys are looking forward to our "winter weather" in Doha.  They arrive early, early Saturday morning. Can't wait!!  

An Early Christmas

Christmas came early for me last night.  Along with the long awaited arrival of Ryan  was a surprise.  Many surprises!! Ryan, aka Santa Claus or my own Christmas elf,  brought a bag full of Christmas ornaments from my friends in Dallas and my sister in law in Kansas!    As I unwrapped and looked at each treasure I couldn't decide between smiling until my cheeks hurt of crying because of how loved I felt!  So I stuck with the smiling and simply enjoyed each Christmas hug. I cannot replace all the things that were lost but with this box I will make new memories and they, too, will be special.  As always with Ryan there was a story to tell about the ornaments.  How they arrived on his front door in a BIG box.  So big , in fact, he took a picture and sent it to Russell...   I laughed out loud as I imagined him shaking his head and saying..what now? :)  But he worked hard to bring me as much as possible and I am still sitting here overwhelmed. Although this Christmas we will be missing the US AND Abu Dhabi, I feel so loved and blessed.  Ryan is asleep upstairs. We have dear friends from AD here visiting for a bit. Russell will be here soon.  Our friends and family in the US haven't forgotten us.  And God, the Creator of the Universe, sent His Son to earth. Emmanuel, God with us.!
Still smiling.

Sallie decorates the poinsettia pots while Robert plays Christmas music. Getting into the spirit.

 
  

Thanks A Lot!

Here it is December already. For Thanksgiving we had several guests join us. Our Canadian friends from the compound, some coworkers of Mike's, and a young single teacher and her daughter that we had met in the grocery store were included.  It doesn't ever feel the same as our celebrations in the US but we have learned to make the best of it.  Mostly having it on Thurs. after work just doesn't feel the same and the fact that most people don't know what the holiday is in the first place. :)    

My friend Kathi and I scoured Doha for Christmas decorations. I am trying to replace those that are gone. I found a few things and a great tree.  Having to make a visa run to Abu Dhabi actually worked in my favor as well.  Last Thursday Robert and I headed to AD. Pattie took me all over hunting for fun things for Christmas. I replaced our Christmas stockings, found some more tree decorations and feel much better about how the house looks for Christmas. I still feel very sad at the loss of what I had but it isn't as painful as it was. I remind myself that it's only stuff. Hold it loosely.

I had tea with Huda and her new twins at Mary's house while I was there. Adam and Jesus.  Thankful that Mary was able to set it up so I could meet these precious little ones and give Huda a hug!  

Happy I had time to visit with our Small group while I was there. Friends for many years . 

Mike carving the Thanksgving turkey. Sallie waiting in anticipation. :)

Ryan comes in 6 days. Then Russell.   It really is beginning to feel like Christmas.

Party On

Nothing like a Lebanese engagement party to welcome visiting friends to Doha.  Nope! Nothing like it. Milt Mary and Rachel got to experience the full deal last night at our compound.  Cars parked everywhere. Arabic music blasting away for all to hear.  Pool closed from 4pm on to set everything up..light show, tables, chairs... food... food... music... And more!  The Lebanese know how to have a party.

The memo said the party would be over at closing. 11pm.  Ha ha hah.!  At 10pm they were delivering more chairs to the deck.  At 11pm Mike, who was about done with this party thing, walked to the desk and informed the manager of the recent memo.  Yes sir. 15 min. more. Ha ha. Uh huh. No, 11pm.  See this is what the memo says.  I paid my rent. My friend Melissa(whose two girls are 7 and 9) paid her rent.  This memo says 11pm. The music needs to be turned off.  This is our home too and the party planners agreed to the terms of the reservation. The manager approached the father of the future bride and some serious "discussion" followed.

A few minutes later the music was turned down.  At least our air conditioners could drown it out mostly. We hope that we will not be labeled as the bad neighbors. Hard line to walk. We shall see.  As a side note, this does not happen often and it was not near as bad as 3 years of building constuction running 24 hours a day in Abu Dhabi. Not even close. :)

Here is what I found this morning. Thought I would share. 

                                         

Windows and Doors

November...Doha..Qatar.  

Pattie and Barry came to see us over the Eid holiday. We showed them the town.  The Souk, the Museum of Islamic Arts and a couple of good restaurants. Mostly we put them to work.  Bought some furniture from some good friends who we knew from Abu Dhabi and are now leaving. Barry and Mike made two big trips with stuff and hauled it all in.  I bet Ryan and Russell are real sorry they weren't here for that.  Barry and Pattie were our first guests to use the upstairs guest room.  It worked out well. We hope to use that room a lot!

Yesterday we had lunch with some other friends from Abu Dhabi.  Had dinner at this great Italian place in the Souk with them and another couple from church.  We had a great time and loved the restaurant. Will definitely be returning there.  And hopefully with our new friends, too!

This couple lives on the Pearl.  A residential development of reclaimed land. Kind of Qatar's answer to The Palm in Dubai.  Very nice. Very empty.  The men shared about working here and the challenges and frustrations.  It is always good to commiserate together. It eases the pain sometimes. We women laughed about Audie's apt...  She showed us her nice balcony. That doesn't have a door. That's ok. The windows are big enough to crawl thru. If you turn sideways. And the view is nice.

You know what they say...if you don't laugh, you'll cry.

Doha, Abu Dhabi, the Gulf Region..Same, same but different.

Month Two

Today is the end of our first two months in Doha.  Our house is coming together thanks to the help of my good friend Pattie.  She was here during our visit to the US and she and Barry came last Wednesday to visit us as well.  We worked them like dogs.  But the house looks great!  Plants, pictures, furniture. All looking good. The best part though was having good friends stay a few days with us.

As I write this a sand storm has blown in.  The sky is brown and the cars have already changed color.  I am glad we didn't plan to do much outside today. Course, also as I write this I am watching the News report the megastorm that is headed to the US East coast. No complaints from this desert dweller.  That thing is huge!!

I can watch the news because we now have internet, and TV services to our villa. No more hanging out at the clubhouse while Robert does school.  No more running over there to check our email and facebook. I kind of miss it. No, not really. We are glad to have most of moving issues settled. All that is left is for us to get our residents permits and for me to get my Qatari license. Not bad when I think of all that was happening last July, August and September.

As I finish unpacking the last boxes onto our bookshelves, there is one thing that makes me sad. My Christmas decorations have disappeared. We will call the movers this week to report it. Perhaps they are sitting somewhere between here and Abu Dhabi.  That is what I am praying, anyway.  It is only stuff but those boxes had stuff from my mom, and all the decorations I have collected for the kids over the years. Every time I think about it my stomach churns.  No way to replace it.  Maybe the movers will have good news. Again, it is all about perspective... I could be packing up and evacuating because of a huge hurricane heading our way....

Praying for friends and family on the East Coast,
Mattie

 

And Finally

Harper with Great Grandma Iolene

Russell introduced Robert to Crossfit while we were in Kansas. Robert says it is not as fun here in Doha.

As a final entry to my rambling about our September visit I must include all the great hugs given and received during the two weeks we were there.  Although it was such a short time we did get to see many of our friends and most of our Kansas family. (  I was very sad not to see my sister, her husband or my niece and nephew though.  It has been more than 3 years now. Not fun.  ) After our trip to Lubbock we stayed in Dallas for 3 days.  People coming and going. Lots of catching up in a short amount of time!  Then on Wednesday, early morning, off to Kansas for a few days.  It was pretty cold for these desert dwellers but we survived. Mike attended his 35th high school reunion and all of us, except for Sallie, got to meet Harper Hildebrand. Harper is the first member of the next generation in our line. And she is a cutie. She wears the title well.

Waiting for the Oktoberfest Parade in Stafford. Robert was chilly. 

Another special hug came from my brother, Scott. I had not seen him in several years and actually did not know where he was living.  Through many amazing connections and God working in his life, we saw each other Tuesday morning for breakfast.  It was a wonderful reunion and I am so thankful for that blessing on top of all the other great things that happened on our trip.

Breakfast with Scott. 

  The two weeks flew by and soon we were flying, too. Back to Doha, Sallie, and 90-100 degree temps. It is good to be back and over the jetlag.  Mike is working hard and this week is a short one with Eid coming.  Time for friends to come see us now!!        

Raiderland with Ryan

Seeing San Fransisco with everyone was not the only fun thing about our whirlwind trip to the States.  Early Friday morning we headed to Lubbock to visit Ryan at Tech.  We have wanted to do this for awhile and on this trip we made it happen.  Tom and Bonnie roadtripped with us so that made the 5-6 hour drive go by much faster.  Laughing and catching up across west Texas is the best way to travel.

Ryan has some terrific friends and we were glad to finally meet them.  Our short visit was packed with meeting his buddies, seeing Lubbock and Texas Tech and eating at some of his favorite restaurants. We weren't sure about Tech before he went there but he has made some good friends and obviously, for now it is home to him.  As a senior he has lots of decisions to make in the upcoming months but for now he is happy in Lubbock and we are glad we experienced just a little of his life there. \

Lunch at Chimys with Tom Bonnie, Curtis , Emily

Hmmmm guess who decorated the living room?

Although it wasn't California, this part of our trip was just as special.  It was hard to hug him good-bye.  I wanted to say just get in the car..and come with us. The goodbyes do not get easier.

San Fransisco in September

Big ships at Fisherman's Wharf.

Chatting and laughing on the way to Alcatraz.

Last spring Mike and I pretty much invited ourselves to an anniversary trip with our dear friends Pat and Darren and Mark and Marganne.  Little did we know that between the time we hatched that idea and the scheduled San Fransisco celebration, we would change jobs and move countries.  For weeks it was touch and go. I even think that there was a bet on whether we would be there or not.  By the time September 20th rolled around we were more than ready to get on that plane and take a breather. After jumping thru hoops and meeting friends who would be here for Sallie(she stayed here in Doha) , and travelling for about 25 hours we landed at DFW.  Early Saturday morning we were on another plane to beautiful San Fransisco ready for 6 days of laughter, good friends, and great memory making. And that is exactly what we had.

All my life my mom talked about her favorite city in the world..San Fransisco.  I can remember her breaking into song "I Left My Heart in San Fransisco..."  I would roll my eyes and smile. She loved that city. They moved there in High School and that is where she met my dad. He was visiting his parents who lived across the street from Grandma and Grandpa Brown.  They were engaged before he left town, and married 3 months later.  As Mike and I and our friends trooped up and down those amazing streets my mind constantly wondered if mom and dad had been there. Did Dad have a drink at the Top of the Mark with  his war buddies?  A tradition apparently going back to World War II before soldiers shipped out that still happens today.  Did he and mom walk along Fisherman's Wharf?  Celebrate the New Year down there? Where the prisoners of Alcatraz could hear their laughter?  I remember how mom would laughingly say how Dad was the only man in the world who would eat steak on Fisherman's Wharf.  I had a hamburger. :) When we got back from our trip I wrote to my Aunt Sally...Maybe she can answer my questions. I hope so. She and Mom had fun there. She will know.

After touring SF we headed to Napa and Sonoma Valleys.  It was so peaceful. We stayed in a 3 bedroom house on a creek.  Tasted wines, ate great food, laughed and talked for three days. I could feel the tension melt away.  I think we need to vacation every time we head back to the US...the decompression is amazing.As for California. We loved it. Not sure I would want to live there but it is a great place to visit!

The Three Amigos behind bars on Alcatraz. 

Possibly the best meal we had, a roadside diner that Mike spotted.  Served Pork. :) 

We could not get enough of the beautiful scenery. Soaked it in. 

     

September Christmas

The shipment from Abu Dhabi arrived last Wednesday.  Felt like Christmas.  We spent the next few days unpacking boxes and setting things up.  All of us enjoyed coming across stuff that brought back fun memories. Gifts from friends, our coffee table books, different pictures and wall hangings, the knick knacks from around the world, and more, made us smile. Slowly, our new place is shaping up.

And just in time. Late Thursday night Robert, Mike and I will be on a plane to Dallas. We are making a very quick trip to the US to celebrate Pat and Darren's 25th anniversary with them and to see our Kansas family..especially our new little grand niece. Included in that trip will be a High School Reunion for Mike.  We are confident he will win  the "traveled the farthest to get here" award.  We also will try and make a trip to Lubbock to see Ryan and experience the world of Texas Tech and Raiderland. The hard part will be..other than crazy jet lag, not getting to see everyone else that we love and miss. These two weeks will be crazy full but hopefully refreshing and fun, too. :)

What about Sallie?  She is staying here in Doha. Our friend Pattie is coming to stay the first week with her and she will stay with some new friends for the second week. It was just too much school to miss. Especially being her senior year. Not easy leaving her here, though. Ugh. Although it has been crazy organizing everything while unpacking and doing all the red tape required to live here, it will be worth it to have a break for a bit in the US.

Well, must keep working thru my list.
The clock is ticking.
   
  

Today I Will Try and Secure a Garden Hose.

Sallie's First Day 

Early Friday Morning...

Left the house to find coffee at Starbucks. Sallie and Robert were still asleep.  We had our coffee and then picked up Krispy Kreme donuts for the kids.  Later we will head to church.  Last week we introduced ourselves as the new people from the US via Abu Dhabi. Glad that is over. Last Friday Mike also spent the afternoon on a hunt for a garden hose. What he discovered is you go to a shop and buy the pieces to a hose and then you assemble it, but the store did not have all the pieces. So then, he decided. Ok, too much for today. I will try again next weekend.  No Loews, No Home Depot or Walmart. Nope, got to hunt down all the parts and splice it together.  Perhaps today we will be victorious.

Sallie's first week of school went well. We got the call Sunday afternoon that they had a spot for her. Oh Happy Day. That was such good news. We celebrated with dinner at Chilis and Sallie had a steak and a non alcohol strawberry Mojito. :)  She likes her classes and is making friends.  Robert and I still camping out at home waiting for the container to be released from the port. No news there. Hoping and praying it will be cleared soon.  We also are all waiting for Mike to get his Res.Permit. Apparently it is somewhere waiting to be mailed to his office. Hard to know exactly. Kind of like finding the parts to a hose....  

And so begins Day 13.

Sallie and Robert using internet by the pool. 

Doha-Day 5

We arrived at our new home around 2 am last Sunday morning.  Sallie and Robert and I were sort of laughing..that the quick trip between AD and Doha is not quite so quick when the plane is delayed 2 hours. But, we arrived and Mike was waiting for us. He had taken an earlier flight and was able to get some air mattresses, sheets and towels for our time of camping until our container arrives and clears customs.  As of today we learned it is here. We still need Mike's Residence Permit for it to clear customs and we are unsure of that little detail. No matter how many times he goes to the office and faces the people in the know...well, he still doesn't know.

We did receive my car.  Mike tried something a little less orthodox. He shipped by cargo truck across the desert, thru Saudi Arabia.  It was all kind of mysterious but we do have my car. For some reason there are shoe prints all over the trunk and hood.  Wish it could talk. Mike got a call late Tuesday night to drive to a certain location and retrieve. Immediately. All righty then..off he went. He only found his way home because he took our new GPS with him. Glad we bought that in Abu Dhabi, by the way. Already we have used it A LOT. Doha is not built on a grid like we were used to in Abu Dhabi. Everything looks the same..And roundabouts are everywhere.  I find the driving and directions really challenging. Hope I get used to it. :)

Tomorrow we visit the church. Hoping to meet some fun people. We all miss our friends in Abu Dhabi but we know there will be great people here, too.  Still waiting on school news for Sallie. We hope to hear by Sunday on that. As that is the first day of school..hmmm.  Mostly right now we are very thankful to be done with the red tape from the UAE and slowly we are working thru the red tape in Qatar.

 Same, same but different. :)

Camping in our Compound

Looking out our front door.  

A bit battered but safe and sound.

 

Final Farewells

I thought it only fitting that I write one more blog before our friend, Barry, picks the kids and me up for the final ride to the Abu Dhabi airport.  Mike left earlier today and will pick us up this evening. Perhaps it is my need to tie things up, bring closure, whatever.  Mostly it is because one day I want to put these entries all in a book for my kids. And so, I must have an ending.  At least for our time in the UAE.

Mike arrived on Aug. 12 to begin his attempts in finalizing our departure paperwork.  The pressure was on. It was the last week of Ramadan. All eyes were focused on the 3 day holiday which often turns into 7 days or 10 days...  Go there, sign here, wait.  Wait, sign, go. No. Later. Come back. BUT at the end of the week we had everything..Cars de-registered.  Visas cancelled. And more. Except for Mike's.  His previous workplace, who needed to cancel the Residence visa and the Labor visa decided to start their Eid holiday early.  Ah yes. More waiting and praying.  Finally, this last Thurs. Mike received his passport..after he rode with the public relations officer to make sure the Labor stuff was completed. Didn't want him to leave his sight.  Whew. Done.

With all our driving around we spent lots of time reminiscing. The park where Ryan had his senior pictures taken by our friend Brad.  Shakespeares and the Souk, what we fondly called our back porch.  Our last Friday at ECC, our church home for 5 years. Church out to lunch at the mall. Wendys. Marina  Mall where we bought furniture and saw our first movie over here. Sallie, Robert and I came out so homesick after that movie..I think it was that Nancy Drew one with Emma Roberts. A birthday dinner at the Pages. The first family we met from here. Hugging on my kids's friends. So grown up now. Saying goodbye to our security guard who always brought us gifts from Egypt. And the little store across the street that was our lifesaver nearly everyday with milk, or bread, or m and m's. The barber who cut Robert's, Mike's, Russell's and Ryan's hair for 5 years. One last dinner at our favorite Vietnamese Restaurant. Lunch at Cafe Arabia.  Yes, it was hard to get thru the red tape but it did give us time to say goodbye to our home.

And we will be back. An hour flight. Lots of close friends who have become family to us. Yep. We will be back. It won't be the same.  New people will be here. Other friends will be gone. But ahh, the memories we take with us.  It is all good.

Now for the strength and energy to get settled in Doha. More memories to be made. More friends to meet. Oh yes..and more red tape. :)          

Let us Leave Please

Robert and I looked at each other last night at dinner and said..Hey today is our 5 year anniversary for arriving in Abu Dhabi. We were having dinner with the Pages and some good friends of Russell's from Kabul who were staying with us before heading back to their teaching jobs.  It was fun to think back on how the Pages were the first people we met from AD. They tried to prepare us for what was ahead of us, while we sat in the Hone's dining room that hot June day.   None of us really knew....

And now, in two days, Mike will be here from Doha. He will finish the exiting process. As hard as it was to enter the country, it is harder to exit. The mountain of red tape is exhausting, but finally we are close. Mike will deregister the cars for exporting them to Qatar. Then he will cancel the visas.  I have spent some of my time this summer completing the various other steps to leave.  As Mike is my sponsor I had to have all these permission letters from him to do anything.  I had a no objection letter to receive permission for the movers to enter our apt. and pack up our furniture.  I had a no objection letter to request the utilities to be cut off from the apt. as we cannot exit the country without a clearance letter from the power/water company. I had a no objection letter to cancel our internet service.  Allowing for more than one day on each of these processes..well, let's just say I played a lot of Angry Birds while waiting for my turn to get the right paperwork, fill it out, return it, check this off, check that off, talk to this person, go to the next person, and basically... eventually.... got it done. (Funny but playing Angry Birds helped release the tension..all those things blowing up!)  But, not to be all negative here. During this process I met several nice people who worked hard to help me get what I needed. One man at the utility company, in particular, would not give up. NO, madam has been here 4 hours, you must disconnect her.  And the next day..no madam has been here 2 more hours. What is the problem?? We became friends and when he finally handed me the clearance letter that we had been disconnected we were both smiling. And he kept saying how sorry he was. The security guard at the desk was also happy for me. Over the two+ days we had smiled and waved several times on my way back and forth to the parking meter.
 Next stop was the property company, our landlord.  This did not go as well initially as I was told we owed another 4000 dirhams because we were late checking out. Really?? I waited 5 days for this clearance letter in order to come over here. 5 days!!! And you are going to charge us???  Call this man. He will tell you how I sat there trying to get it. I am alone. My husband is in Doha. Do you know how hard it is to leave this country??  and you are going to take MORE money from us?? Shame on you! I have been without an oven for 3 months. No one came to fix it. You are stealiing from us. Ok, and then after a bit more of that I nearly started to cry. Yes, the thief card, the shame card, the wife alone card.. They all came out. But believe me, the tears were real.  In the end, after an hour or so, he did not charge us more. And we got our deposit back..which is not easily accomplished. I am thankful for the many friends I have had praying for me over the last month for all of these details. I know that is what got me through..      So in these areas we are cleared to leave. I think I left mostly a good impression.well, mostly. Maybe the landlord.....

With Sallie in Chicago and Ryan back in Lubbock and Mike in Doha, it has been pretty quiet. We were glad to have Brad and Kayla and her sister Bree with us for a couple of nights. We shared Russell stories and it made all of us miss him. They told me how they will really miss him back in Kabul.  They even named their cat Russell the Cat as they found it right after he had to leave last January.  Brad is also from Carrollton so we had several ties. It was a short visit but fun. I told them to come see us in Doha.

But Mike will be here on Sunday. Then we will hit it again.I pray the end is in sight.
Oh boy.
Do I.
And then we do the reverse on the other end. But that is for another day. 

Serving Up Ramadam

Tea anyone? Abu Dhabi Health and Fitness Center

Lulu Grocery Store. Flickering, yes..flickering fire above the door.

Mushrif Mall

Khalidyah Mall

One week of Ramadan is over. Not that many of us count down the days over here. Actually, some things about Ramadan are nice.  Very, very quiet afternoons.  Very slow mornings.  Traffic is practically non existent between 4pm and Iftar which is at sunset, about 7pm. This is the time to break the fasting that began at sunrise.  Many Muslims who celebrate Ramadan sleep extra hours during the day and then visit family and friends until very late at night.  Including the kids.  This makes it difficult when Ramadan falls during the school year, but during the summer it is not so bad.   Naturally, a challenge at Ramadan is no eating during the day in public so restaurants are closed and remembering not to pull out that water bottle in public, even if it is 110 degrees. :)  Along with the quiet days, fasting, and Iftar meals,  come the great decorations. Here are a few from Ramadan 2012, Abu Dhabi.

Ramadam Kareem, Everybody.

Making Memories

Spent an afternoon at Summer In Abu Dhabi before  friends left for the summer. 

Atlantis Water Park is a good way to spend a hot summer day.

Burgers after the water park. Robert's friend Jack left the next day.

Tea with Mary and Huda before Mary left for the summer. 

Mike and his friends Mark and Peter at our last Church Out to Lunch.

Good-bye to 11th grade! Last day of school. 

In the last few days I have been composing a letter to my Mom.  Weird. She has been gone four years now, actually, a bit more.  With our move to Doha imminent, these questions keep popping in my head that I wish I could ask her.  What did you do first? How did you prepare?  What was the hardest thing for you?  Do you wish you had just stayed put?  How did you decide what to keep ? what to leave?  (and with no internet every place she moved was a big question mark...)  Sometimes I miss her more than others..  And Daddy, too.  What would he say about moving again?  I would love to sit with them and tell them our Adventures from Abu Dhabi and the challenges facing us with Doha. We'd probably go to Denny's and over a big steak and eggs breakfast we'd all talk it over.  So far, it is that feeling of loss that is the hardest.  As we run around getting things done, or popping into our favorite eating holes, I think..I will miss this. I will miss these friends.  But I know that Mom and Dad made amazing friends in their fifty something moves...and kept them.  And we will, too.

Last Friday School at church before the summer.