From A to Z

Three is too many. I know that. I mean come on, two is pushing it, but for us, three is most definitely too many. C didn't believe that I actually believed this. I have no doubt he thought I was angling for # 3 and this was my way of getting what I wanted in a sneakier fashion.

To clarify, I'm not talking about kids... well, not the human variety anyhow. I am a dog gal. Always have been. I love me some furry, four legged, balls of energy and affection. 

And C has granted me two of this variety over the years. He isn't wasn't a dog man, but he's softened over time.  You still won't find him seeking some cuddle time from one of them on the couch, or talking 'doggie talk' to them while they vie for his attention and crazily aim for a stolen lick or two on his face after they haven't seen him all day.

It still makes him uncomfortable to be licked by any animal, and I know he may secretly find the craziness they add to our lives once in a while a bit... much. Truthfully, it is a bit much sometimes.

But, he loves them. Very much. And when his 'boy' (aka Bentley), waits every night at the base of our staircase, not even attempting a stair or two, Colin always remembers he'll be there. He never asks me to go retrieve our smallest dog with bad knees and a weak heart. He fetches Benny in the dark each and every night and gently carries him to his place at the foot of our bed. Every. Night. He knows how Ben likes to be carried, and some nights I hear their (one-sided) discussions as they ascend the stairs for bedtime. Love.

(Pause here to gush over an everyday task of a really good man)

Ask anyone who knows me, and you'll find it's not a secret that my heart belongs to Cooper. It has since we first looked into each others eyes, almost seven years ago in College Station, Texas. He presses my buttons at times and he is not perfect, but man-oh-man, I would do most anything for that dog. I genuinely prefer his company to the human variety on some days. 

I have had lots of hobbies and interests that have (sadly) taken a back burner during our time here in Qatar. I don't paint like I once did, and how awesome would it be to sit down and actually read a book from cover to cover again (and not of the Dr. Seuss variety)?
Somehow, some things have been put on hold while I spend my days with E.  But one thing that has remained a priority is always attempting to do what I can for animal welfare. No matter where we have lived, I try to give some attention, time and money to helping local animals. Everyone has their 'thing', and this is mine.

Qatar has its problems, like every other country does. It is still very much "developing". It has animal cruelty and neglect, just as other areas do if you look hard enough. Sad situations are everywhere here, though - I am not trying to pick on my home-right-now country. I swear I am not. But when you combine the heat, the unforgiving environment (often difficult for an animal to hide from the elements), the lack of public education about animal rights and humane treatment, together with the nonexistence of any official nonprofit humane society, the case becomes a more difficult one.
There are some amazing efforts being made here to help animals in need. New and state-of-the-art veterinary clinics keep popping up, and places like QAWS (Qatar Animal Welfare Society - runs completely on private donations and volunteers), DID (Dogs in Doha, who work on rescuing, treating and then fostering dogs) and 2nd Chance Rescue (an initiative started by a young Qatari national with a huge heart) have made a significant impact on the lives of so many animals in recent years.
Yet, it still seems to 'rain cats and dogs' here on a regular basis.
Too often when my family is out and about in the city, we see such sad cases on the roadside and in empty desert lots.  My eyes seem to search them out now. I can't help it.
Just ask C - in three years, I have dragged exactly five dogs and one kitten into our lives temporarily. These were the saddest of cases that I just could not walk away from. And, happily, 5 out of 6 of these animals were lucky to make it and find forever loving homes in the end.
Sadly this year, my volunteer time I spent walking rescued dogs at 2nd Chance, although so rewarding, has tapered off, due to my growing belly. But with the holidays approaching, I felt it would be nice to try and do something more before the baby arrives.
This is where the '3' comes in. I wanted us to foster a dog in need until it found a loving home.
So I tried casually floating this by C one day.
And guess what?  It wasn't so bad. He didn't say no right away. He did mention that I was crazy and that we had our hands full already. But he also said if it was something I really wanted to do, he would support me. Well hello, new foster family!
After meeting several dogs in need of a huge break, one in particular stuck with me.
She was super skinny and nervous, and avoided eye contact. Such a gentle disposition despite  everything she must have been through. She had been rescued by a kind man on the outskirts of the city, and thanks to the work of both a rescue group and a local vet, she found her way to us.
So, one night early in November, we picked Zahara up to take her home with us.
She was shaking and curled up in a ball in the back of our SUV on the way home. She wouldn't look at us.
She was terrified when we introduced her to Cooper and Bentley (and had every right to be as they weren't exactly polite to our new guest at first).
Those first days, she slept on a bed in our laundry room, eating lots, but seeming very disinterested in anything around her. On her walks, she kept her head down and stayed tucked close to your side.
With a bit of time, our dogs began to behave a little bit more graciously toward her, and after a solid week of coaxing her with affection and treats, she ventured out of the laundry room for a little look around our house.
After a few weeks, she was like a new dog. Still a bit timid and easily scared, but she started actively looking for affection. She played with Cooper & Bentley and loved attention from E. I spoiled her with everything I could think of, but would you believe it... she fell in love with C! She pined for him when he went to work, cried when he went outside without her. She pulled her leash to walk next to him when we walked and I held the lead. Go figure!
As best as the vet could tell,  Zahara was about four years old, and a purebred Saluki, also know as an 'Arabian Saluki' or 'desert dog'.  Long, lean and graceful. Quiet and intelligent. Saluki's can run like the wind (up to 70 km/hr), sleep lots, tend to bond with one person specifically, and sadly, are often mistreated and dumped in this country. After a Saluki finishes it's racing career, it is all too common to see them dropped in the desert, as they are no longer considered useful. This is the most prevalent dog in these parts, and when you come upon a street mix, or 'Doha Special', you can bet money it probably has some Saluki mixed in there.
As she gained weight, we had her spayed, vaccinated and microchipped. We quickly discovered she gets very car sick very easily.  Yuck!
Thanks to a wonderful friend, we found Zahara a more than awesome forever home with a family that will make sure she is completely spoiled and happy for the rest of her life.
She spent the holidays with us, and early in January, she left us to live with her new family. She won't see out her days in Qatar however, as her new fam are packing her up this spring and relocating back to  Australia. She's going to be an Aussie pup!
She was a fantastic house guest. C really had a soft spot for her, and her calmness and gracefulness made our two dogs look like proper lunatics.
Our limit is two dogs. For sure. But if I ever was tempted, it was with Zahara.
Our two months spent helping her rediscover her spark were more than rewarding. It's funny how when you do something without expecting anything in return, you get the greatest gifts. As a family, we got to watch this animal come alive again... we also got to help make a very small difference in the abandoned and stray animal population here. E still talks about her every night before bed.
A great experience that we will likely do again in the future.
 

Christmas #2 in Doha

This year, for the second year in a row, we decided to stay in Doha for Christmas.

Last year, it was an easy call to stay put, as we had visitors, and visitors make all the difference during the holidays. They bring the festive with them when they arrive.

This year though, it was just us. Most of our neighbours cleared out to spend the holidays at home with their family and friends. Some went on vacation in search of snowy mountains or boozy beaches. We were one of the few families staying here.

Happily saddled with neighbourly tasks of watering plants and feeding cats. A staycation for us that we were actually really looking forward to. It seemed ages since we had family time where we weren't frantically stuffing our suitcases and heading to the airport on some long haul flight.

So I did the usual things - decorated house, put tree up, sought out a decent Butterball, blah blah... everything was in place to have a great little time here with C and E.

But those old feelings started creeping over me early in December...

Longing to be home.
Wishing for snow and non-stop Christmas music on the radio.
Wanting to hug my parents and clink glasses with old friends.
Missing our old family decorations that I foolishly forgot to include in our shipment when we moved here.
Yearning for pink cheeks, and snow crunching under my boots, and recognizing just about everyone at midnight mass on Christmas Eve. Hugs and smiles everywhere.
Dying for that contented bundled-up-by-the-fireplace-with-a-blanket-and-a-good-book kind of feeling.
You get my drift.

So boo hoo hoo. I was away from home over the holidays and started feeling a little sorry for myself.
I trudged through the malls (that were void of any holiday cheer and decoration), never finding quite what I was looking for, growling about the driving, the line ups and the complete lack of holiday spirit.

This lasted a few long days (long and painful days, if you ask C).

Then I stopped my silliness. I gave myself a very strong figurative kick in the a**, and told myself to smarten up.
I am here in this place by choice. I live a very blessed life. One that allows me to stay home every day with my daughter. One that brings sunshine through my window every single morning when I wake up.  One that has given us a very special and eclectic group of friends from all over the world. This IS our home.  What matters most is that we do what we can here to make our holiday special.
So I got out a pen and paper and I made a list. What would make us feel better about being here over the holidays? The bigger picture.

This is what I came up with:

- Every day, do one thing to make a difference to someone else.

And that is what we did. No huge 'change the world' gestures, but several small, really nice ones. And boy, did it feel good.
What Christmas should feel like on the inside. 'Tis the Season, after all.

The Highlights: The week leading up to Christmas, I became a baking machine. My oven only shut off when I went to bed at night. No joke.  Chocolate swirl banana loaf,  a multitude of shortbread and sugar cookies, fudge brownies and peanut brittle. I bought cookie tins and cake boxes and made each package festive. No matter the religion of my recipients. I was sweating it out in the kitchen to get a few smiles (albeit some toothless ones) from the people who work very hard to make our compound a home. Each gardener, carpenter, electrician, painter and security guard that we have come to know in our almost two years here got a baked gift. I handed them out my kitchen window as the workers walked by or I called them each to the house if I knew which shift they were working. C came home twice to different Kenyan security guards having a glass of milk and some cookies in our kitchen while we waited for a fresh batch to come out of the oven. We both smiled as we scrolled through pictures of  wives and kids on their mobile phones. The people they missed. What mattered to them.

Lunch!

After I shut the oven off, we moved on to another little project. We were going to buy some Christmas Eve lunch for some people who might enjoy a free treat. A kind gesture on a special day for us.

First stop was a local fast food chain, where we loaded up over a dozen meals into bags. Second stop - the underground parking lot of a local mall. The parking lots here are often filled with workers in bright orange coveralls, stationed every fifty feet or so, asking to wash your car while you shop, for about 10qar (under 3 bucks). What I have noticed about these guys (as I do tend to park in these lots often) is that they never seem very happy, and, they are all pretty skinny. Today lunch is on us, boys.

It took us all of five minutes to hand out the meals. We even got a few mumbles of "Thank you, Merry Christmas".  Just a small treat on what is probably a long day for them, but I swear even Ella was smiling as we drove away. We were really getting in to the spirit of things now.

That same day, we gave three big bags of E's gently used toys to a waiter in our favorite lunch spot. We knew he had three kids, and we also knew that Ella had more toys than she could ever play with. He was very happy to have them and she hasn't even noticed them gone. Worked out well for both parties.

C, loving on some puppies from QAWS

We paused from our little mission to give Ella a great Christmas Day. And we did have a great day.

We played, we laughed, we ate, we Skyped, we napped. Santa indeed found us!

Our last planned make-a-difference-this-Christmas activity came yesterday. This one holds a special place in my heart.
We arrived at a local animal shelter, which basically consisted of some makeshift kennel trailers strung together on a large piece of farm land on the outskirts of town, headed up by some volunteers with super huge hearts and heaps of dedication. They have over 100 animals they have to feed, walk, and care for every day.
We spent the afternoon walking different dogs and puppies out around the farm land. Talk about rewarding. We stayed till the sun went down. Ella cried half way home asking to "go walk more puppies". C wants to go back too. We may make it a regular family activity in 2012.

All in all, a really great Christmas.
No huge resolutions for me this new year... just going to try and stay focused on what matters most. It was nice to be reminded that the easiest way to make yourself happy is to do something nice for someone else. I highly recommend it - it worked like a charm for us.
Happy 2012, everyone!