Day Five

So, today is Day #5. I am on a thirty day fitness program that May has designed for me, which is going to kick start my 2011 and help me on my journey to becoming in great shape. Perhaps I didn't give enough thought to just how long 30 days actually is...

She has charted out new cruel and unusual things for me to do each day we meet, and, she has actually emailed files to me ahead of time with each exercise series mapped out in detail... but to be honest, I would rather not know. Knowing what I am in store for will produce a dread that will hang over me hours before I arrive at the gym. Ruin my day, really. Kind of like how your Sunday night is always darkened with the promise of having to get up early the next morning for work... except way worse than that.

I am keeping this short, as I am trying to conserve my energy for the dreaded session #5. Every bit counts.

I am actually still recovering from days 1 through 4.

My Current Status:

• My leg muscles feel weak and unpredictable when I try to walk. If my steps are too large, I get shots of pain in all kind of muscles I didn't know I had. Hence, I am doing a sort of shuffle walk today. Extremely sexy.
• I am quite sure my hips have been swapped with a pair belonging to a very creaky ninety-five year old, as they ache with even the smallest movement.
• When I tried to 'pop' out of bed this morning, I had to fight against the intense ache in my abdominal region that made me want to lay perfectly still forever.

It all hurts. Day 30 seems so far out of reach. SoooOOoo farRrr. Everyone please channel all of your workout energy and send it my way. Ì need it...

Dune Bashing in Doha

It's 2011. Can hardly believe it. Talk about time flying! Happy New Year to you all - I hope this year is the best one yet for all of us! Our Christmas was jam packed with lots of fun things. Having visitors made it extra special - lots of shopping & sight seeing, trip to Dubai, desert adventures, camel races, lots of great meals cooked up in the kitchen, some fine dining out, and many many laughs... really good times.

I must elaborate on our day trip to the desert to go "dune bashing" as it was by far the highlight of our holiday adventures. I had heard stories of how hair raising these trips could be, so I managed to put it off until now.

Starting our adventure (our guests in the background)

 For as long as I can remember, I have avoided all rides at any type of amusment park or travelling fair. I am really not cool with anything that spins me around, tips me upside down, shakes me from side to side, or projects me out into the world at speeds that only a gun shot should travel. I like to be the onlooker, as Colin will attest to. Take a few pictures or munch on a tasty treat.


If I am in a really good mood, you may be able to persuade me to get on a merry-go-round, or, if I am feeling a little wild and crazy, possibly a smallish ferris wheel. That's it though - no Pirate Ship, Gravitron, Zipper, Spinning Tea Cups, Space Mountain for me... you get the idea. This girl likes her feet firmly planted on the ground, thank you very much.

So, dune bashing. In honor of Laura and Stan's visit, I arranged a babysitter for Ella and prebooked a trip to the desert with a local tour company. Our driver was Qatari, and picked us up near our house to drive us out to the Qatar desert for a day of  fun.


He stopped along the way a few times so we could take pictures and ride camels (Colin & I happily acted as photographers as our guests saddled up).

I was busy sizing up our driver Mohsen's skills behind the wheel. As we scooted along, I must say, I was impressed. No crazy speeding on the highway, and he even used his signal lights (I know, be still my beating heart). *see my earlier post on Qatari drivers


Speeding along through the desert

At our last stop just outside the desert, I watched Mohsen deflate the tires on his Land Cruiser to about 15psi. He tells me this allows the vehicle to properly handle driving in the sand. Boy was he right.
We started off with Colin sitting up front and Laura, Stan and I in the back. Before we begin climbing our first big sand dune, Mohsen carefully selects some sort of arabic-techno music to get us going. He turns it up loud and off we go!
To say that my stomach was doing flip flops and my heart was 'in my throat', would be putting it mildly. Going up and down those first dunes caused me to let out some serious screams and grapple onto Laura in a sort of frantic bear hug. Craziness!
We zipped up and down dunes, went backwards down shockingly steep hills, drove alarmingly close to sandy edges, and went at speeds that I was stunned we could reach on sand.
Oddly enough, I actually felt safe the entire time. Was I scared? Yes, out of my mind scared... but, not like so-scared-I-might-pee-my-pants kind of fear... more like an electric I-don't-want-to-know-what-is-coming-next-but-I-can't-wait-to-find-out kind of feeling.
I can't think of a more perfect description, but to call it hair raising. It really was.

I know for a fact that the boys were pretty rattled as well. I could tell by their occasional cries of "OhhHHH NooO" or "Holy Sh*****tttt". We all laughed really hard for about two hours straight.


Qatari Roller Coaster

Highlights of our day included getting to put our feet in the Khor al Adaid (also known as the "Inland Sea"), while looking over at the hills of Saudi Arabia. The sun was shining brightly, the temperature was perfect, and the desert couldn't have looked more beautiful. I had a few of those moments where you look around and think to yourself, yep, this is pretty damn cool.

Me next to Khor al Adaid, overlooking Saudi Arabia

All in all, a really good experience. I have now crossed Dune Bashing in the Arabian Desert off of my bucket list (and feel no need to do it twice). After we got home, I had a solid two hour nap to recharge the batteries (all that excitement wears a gal out), and the next day, my voice sounded like I had swallowed an ash tray. Apparently I screamed and hollered more than I realized. Haha!





Festive for Sale

Ho ho ho-ly sh**, it's hot out here!

It is December is Doha, and as we gear up for the holidays here, I have to say that this is the most un-Christmas-y I have ever felt. Not in a bah-humbug way, but in a more general, not feeling like 'tis the season kind of way.
First, there was the issue of a Christmas tree. I don't know what we were thinking when we packed our boxes to come here, as we did not bring ONE  decoration with us. Not one. No dingle balls for the tree, no decorative manger with a wee little Jesus, no lights, no beads or pine bows, no wreath, and most notably... NO TREE. I must have been in some kind of post pregnancy fog or something.

As per usual, I start to fret about the availability of trees (real or artificial) here in Doha, where Christmas is not a big event in the stores. So about two weeks ago, I get wind that a few stores are indeed selling artificial Christmas trees, but it's slim pickin's, and the prices were on the high side. Off we go one Thursday evening (our 'Friday') in search of a new tree.
We find two possibilities. The first, is in a home store rightly named 'The One' (http://www.theoneplanet.com/), and they actually have a decent variety of artificial trees, but one look at the price tag and my night is ruined. The tree we liked... a mere 3700 Qatari Riyals! That is about $1000 USD (give or take). WHAT? Here's the crazy part - we both stood there and considered spending that much on a just okay looking tree. It wasn't dipped in gold, or so real looking you might mistakenly water it. It didn't walk or talk or do tricks.  No, it definitely looked fake, and was a bit bare, if you want to know the truth. I told Colin we needed to walk away and discuss this. Obviously, we had lost our minds.
Clearly, the sand was once again clouding our better judgement. I could fly to Canada one way for that price. An expression I heard my husband use last week sums this up perfectly: paying that much for a Christmas tree is just a little bit "Qatarded". (I know, funny right?) So, we walk around the mall a bit to talk about our options.

And there it is looming in the distance. Carrefour (http://www.carrefouruae.com/). Carrefour is like a European version of Walmart, but in Doha, this store really isn't European-like at all. It is often over crowded and poorly staffed, and since it is a combination of home goods and groceries, you always seem to get a faint 'raw meat' smell in the air when you are shopping. I secretly think it is the store where all other stores send their products that no one else will buy. I try and avoid our Carrefour whenever I can.
I know they probably have trees in there, so we agree to check. Yep, five different styles of artificial trees - including one white and one black one. Who would want a black tree? But there is one the same size and fullness as our tree in The One, and guess what? It is 497QAR (about $140USD).
Funny thing is, I would scoff at paying 140 bucks for a tree like this one back home, but now, it appears a steal of a deal. Did we load it in the cart and wheel it home immediately? No, no we did not.
We actually debated. Yes, we went back and forth between the two stores, trying to decide if the uglier tree was worth the big price break. Or, if the nicer tree was really THAT much nicer. Foolishness.

After too much time had passed, Ella had had enough of our inabilitiy to decide and started to complain, so we finally settled on the cheaper tree. (If we hadn't, I don't think I would have been able to write about it, for fear you all would think I'd lost my mind!).

It is now up, decorated, and looking pretty nice, I think. All the decorations are new, so no old favorites or family keepsakes this year. Trying to find a tree topper proved to be an extraordinary challenge, as well.
We have since put some lights up outside, decorated inside, and even gotten some good Christmas music all ready to go. I have dragged out my Christmas cookbooks, looked into where we can get a good turkey (don't get me started on the price of the turkey), sent all our cards in the mail, and found out what time the English Christmas Eve service is at our church.

We have been to a few Christmas parties already, and we did get quite the kick out of Santa arriving on a camel. That was a sight we had never seen before!



A final thought on the tree thing... after we made our purchase, I stumbled upon this website: http://dohadailydeal.com/. God Bless the Dutch - fresh Christmas trees shipped to my door in Doha, from Holland, for a mere 1000QAR (about $275USD). Haha! I guess you can get anything here if you are willing to pay the price.

OUR BIG NEWS: We are having company for Christmas this year! Who would want to come to the sandy desert for the holidays, you ask? The Janz`s from Calgary, that`s who! We are really looking forward to their arrival -  nothing like great friends to make us feel a little more festive. Can't wait till they get here next week!

Here's hoping that Santa finds us all here in our new home. No chimney this year, but we'll leave the patio door open just a crack. Ho ho ho!

Paris in November

This is long overdue but...

I think it is safe to say that all three of us fell in love with Paris on day one. What a fabulous city. I think we would have found it fabulous any time we visited, but, visiting now, after living in Qatar for a while, made it especially nice.

First thing we noticed was the weather. We arrived on a rainy, cloudy day, which couldn't have been better for us. Strange right? But after being rain & cloud-deprived for so long, that cranky looking sky with its random sprinkling of mist was a down right treat. Ella kept looking around, like 'what is this wet stuff that is falling on us?'... hard to believe she hasn't really experienced rain yet!

One of the most attractive things about the city (like many old cities) was its buildings. The history is amazing and looking at the details in each one we passed was just awesome. No two the same.

My quick 'favorite things about Paris list' to sum it all up (in no particular order, as they were all great):



Ella and one of many baguettes...



1. The bread - the bread deserves to be in a seperate category and not just lumped in with 'food'. It also deserves to be mentioned first, as many of you know, I am a bread fan (understatement, really). Parisians love their bread, and it is everywhere. We had bread with every meal (Ella included) and felt compelled to buy fresh baguette from street bakeries as we walked around, just to fit in, as everyone else was walking and munching on their fresh baguettes.

2. The food & wine - both more than great, and we slowly ate and drank our way across the city at every meal. Good thing we were walking everywhere to offset the calories a bit! (If you read this May, I apologize... it couldn't be helped!)

3. The dogs - Being an animal lover in Qatar has been difficult at times, as no longer can we bring our dogs with us when we go many places. When you do see dogs in the city, they are often stray and looking very hungry (tug at heart strings here). So, seeing big Retrievers tucked in under their owners chairs at cafes and little pomeranians obediently walking through stores next to their families was a welcome sight. Bonus: Ella has learned to say "woof" when she sees a puppy, so there were lots of excited woofs as we explored.

4. The chocolate - Stores and stores devoted solely to chocolate and delicious things covered in chocolate. And I thought the Qatari's had a sweet tooth!

5. The history - Everywhere we went there were magnificent old buildings, statues and monuments. So much to take in, so little time.

7. The small cars - Five years in Texas got me somewhat accustomed to seeing 'big rigs' everywhere. Then, our ten months here, where almost every vehicle is a large desert-ready SUV, I had begun to forget about the smaller vehicles. Paris was crammed with Smart cars, hatch-backs, and scooters. Loved, loved, loved this.

6. The Frenchness - The fashionable slightly-disheveled-but-oh-so-put-together appearance of the  people carrying their baguettes, morning papers, and puffing away on a cigarette was very cool. We both agreed that the smoking just didn't seems as offensive here, oddly enough. I mean, we were aware of it, and tried to steer Ella away from all smokers at all times, but so many people doing it made it seem much more acceptable and commonplace. Weird, I know, coming from a smoke-hater.

8. The markets/shopping - This was the kind of shopping I have missed. Little shops all lined together, each selling a curious assortment of things that bring a warmth to my heart. Colin indulged me repreatedly while I wandered through as many boutiques as I could, trying my rusty french out on shop keepers, and buying the odd knick knack here and there.

 

9. The ART - Paris certainly got my creative juices flowing. Studios and galleries everywhere, it seemed. Our day in Montemarte was amazingly inspirational. Artists at every turn, painting their hearts out! Never mind the museums filled with Monet, Manet, Renoir, van Gogh and countless other historical artists. You could wander through the museums for days on end and still not see everything.

10. The winding streets - Old cobblestone streets snaking around the city in every direction... filled with businesses, churches, people bundled up for winter weather, scents of baking bread.... ahhh.

 

So there you have it, our Paris adventure in a nut shell.  It was a glorious eight days and we do plan on returning again some day, fingers crossed.

Vive la France!

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

It's been a few weeks since I have had time to write, so first let me roll the clock back a bit and update you on the week before we left for our Eid holiday to Paris.

For the entire week just before we left on vacation, I had registered for a photography class at Virginia Commonwealth University here in Qatar. I wasn't really thinking about how hectic my week would be, but, I made it to every class and thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the ins and outs of my new Canon (I will discuss this later).

My point in telling you this is to give you an idea that I spent the days running around with Ella getting us ready for our trip, and the evenings in my class... throw in a birthday celebration for Colin and a few other volunteer activities, and I was solidly busy... so, I was thoroughly looking forward to a trip to my hair salon on Tuesday afternoon.

Ella had had her vaccinations that morning and I was a bit hesitant to leave her, but I really needed some hair attention (I had let it go too long and I was looking a bit shaggy) and it was only going to be an hour or so. So, Ella happily had her afternoon nap (with Mercy keeping a close eye on her), and I snuck away to have some much needed salon time.

Doha doesn't have the selection or quality of salons that I am accustomed to. Sure, there are some swanky places, but they often come with huge price tags and not always the greatest service. Plus, finding a person who is skilled at cutting curly & thick hair like mine is always a pain in the butt.
After a few different trips to various places around Doha to "sample" the stylists that were recommended to me by friends, I ended up with one spot that I was pretty happy with. All English speakers, funky atmosphere, and a stylist whose hair was as curly as mine, and had "Master Stylist" next to her name on her card. We hit it off and I have been going there since May.
It should be mentioned here, that last time I went to this person (I have grey hairs now people... I need to maintain my 'color' every six weeks...), she mistakenly used a lighter shade than I normally use on my hair, which she had to try and correct before I left. The salon was busy that day and my appointment ended up taking forever. My hair took a bit of a beating that time - too many chemicals, I think - but I was understanding. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes... and she had confided in me that she was having man-troubles at the time. Enough said - I forgave her for the slip up.

So, I had waited extra long for this new appointment, wanting to give my hair a chance to bounce back from the double chemical dose I inflicted on it a few months earlier.

I get there on time, happy to have an hour to relax, and to get a chance to treat myself before our vacation.
Long story a bit shorter... she is "touching up" my roots with a gooey mixture that looks PRETTY damn orange. I immediately comment:

Me: "Gee, this looks pretty orange. Are you sure?"

My girl (not mentioning her name on the off chance she may ever stumble upon this): "Tash, trust me. I know what I am doing"

Me: "Okay. But it kinda looks pumpkin-y orange"

My girl: "Read your magazine. Stop worrying. I promise it will look great"

So, I get a nice warm hot chocolate and dive into the new People magazine while my poor hair is 'processing'. I started to grow uneasy every time I look in the mirror. The goop on my head seemed to be glowing brighter and brighter. Anyone that knows anything about dyeing hair knows that the stuff generally darkens as it processes, right? So, I call to my girl once again, and she once again reassures me that I am worrying over nothing. Okay - I need to put a sock in it as I am being obsessive (odd for me, right?).
I sit there for what seems like an eternity, and finally its time to wash it off. OMG. I can tell when she is washing that something isn't right, just by the way she pauses repeatedly to examine the top of my head. What has happened?

I ask to see a mirror. She hesitates. We lock eyes and I know she has done it again. I look in the mirror she reluctantly passes me (while telling me it will take 'no time at all to fix'), and I see what I feared most... about 1/2 an inch from my scalp up is a very odd shade of reddish orange. Are you freaking kidding me? BRIGHT reddish-orange.

I have a newly-vaccinated baby to get back to, and I hear it is raining outside - I HAVEN'T SEEN RAIN IN NINE MONTHS. I want to go home, not go through this again. I sit there silently fuming as she slops on another batch of BROWN goop. Ahh, so she remembered the secret potion she used before? A little late. How hard is BROWN to mix up? Just basic run-of-the-mill BROWN.

But this time, things are not feeling right. Burn. Yes, my head is burning. Slight at first. Not so much to warrant a complaint. Besides, she has left me to sit here alone while she takes in her next person, as she is now running late, so I have no one to complain to. Five minutes pass. Ten. I can't stand it anymore. I catch her eye and tell her I need this stuff off my head now. She says "I think its ready anyhow". So we wash. The water does nothing to ease the now pain I am starting to feel. I can feel panic bubbling up inside me as I start to think that maybe my hair is falling out. What have I done? Eek!

So, I look in her mirror again. Okay, it is back to normal now, but my scalp is completely on fire and it looks like she has left streaks of brown dye on my forehead and across one my my cheeks. It turns out that crap doesn't come off too easily once you get it on your face.

I am wild on the inside now. Trying to keep my cool, I tell 'my girl' not to bother blow dry it, as I am worried about Ella, and Colin is already on his way home from work. My photography class is in one hour. I have to go.

I pay my bill in a rush to get out of there, and head home. So, to review: 3 hours and 45 minutes in salon, 2 batches of burning hair dye left sitting on scalp, NO haircut to speak of (the thing I wanted most of all), and a huge bill at the end.

By the time I get home, I am in quite the state. I fly around the house crazily changing my clothes for class, while hysterically telling Colin what has just happened. I didn't even get to snuggle with my poor Ella! He is trying desperately to reassure me that it looks great, but when I stop moving around and stand before him... guess what he says? He says: "You've got something on your face".

WHAT? I had forgotten. Rush to bathroom. Mother of God, my face has brown hair dye stains smudged all over it. As does the side of my neck and the tip of one ear. I am about to go into a mad ranting rage just as the doorbell rings, and my friend is here to pick me up for class.

I scrub my face like a maniac, grab my camera, and head out the door.

Mindy (the friend who I am taking class with) was very sympathetic as I ranted on about my afternoon. She lends me a scarf she had in the car to hide the neck stains. She even tried to tell me that no one would notice my brown smudge face from across the classroom. Whatever. I knew how I must have looked with wet frizzy hair, a brown and pink face (pink from rubbing my flesh raw trying to wash the brown off before leaving the house), a scarf on my neck when its 30 degrees outside,and no make up on. You can just picture it, can't you?

Wouldn't you know it that we were taking portraits that night! PORTRAITS. I am not even joking.

My hair is pretty much back to normal now, and the colour is the same as it always is. On a very bright note, I went to a great little salon in Paris on day two of our trip and had a fantastic haircut and a gentle-so-worth-every-euro scalp massage & conditioning treatment. It made up for everything... well, almost everything... head isn't tender anymore but I now have a slight mental scar from the whole experience.

My girl, by the way, has emailed and texted me a few times, apologizing and wanting me to come in for a proper cut. She was very apologetic about what happened. I wrote her back an email and told her (very nicely) that my head would be taking a break from the salon for a while.

So, my question to you is this - do I break up with her? I really like 'my girl' as a person, but can't really trust her potion-mixing skills anymore. I would miss the funky little salon, but perhaps its time to start 'seeing' a new stylist? Do I just never go back, or, do I akwardly explain why I can't? I figure I won't need a cut till around Christmas... breaking up is so complicated!

Your comments are oh so welcome!

Goodbye To Some GREAT Neighbours!

I watched the moving truck pack up our neighbour's house this morning. Sigh.
Our favourite neighbours (the 'Canadians' I wrote about many months ago), are leaving Doha and moving to Houston.
So sad to see them go, as they've become wonderful friends. We are going to miss you both very much!

Wishing them a safe journey and all the best as they start another new chapter together.

May you have warm words on a cool evening,

A full moon on a dark night,

And a smooth road all the way to your door.

Lone Star Lovin' Fix

I will start off by saying that I am almost four pounds heavier than I was when I wrote my last post.
3.52lbs to be exact. Yes, it seems that I ate - and drank - with reckless abandon while on our visit to Texas. What a trip!

Without making Doha sound terrible (because it really isn't), I sort of felt like someone who has been in the dark for a long while, and suddenly steps out into direct sunlight, squinting & blinking and trying to take all the brightness in at once. Back to North American life!

We get off the plane, and yet again, I am struck by the vast amounts of GREEN everywhere. Trees, bushes... grass, glorious grass! We both commented as we drove down the I45 at how polite and calm the drivers all were (Imagine! Those words would have never left my mouth a year ago!).

While Colin buttered our bread at the office (thanks for that, darling... although he did get some time off to relax too - yay!), Ella and I motored around The Woodlands and Houston, visiting with friends, enjoying every moment together, and soaking up the sun.

The weather was PERFECT, as October in Texas often is.

It amazed me how thrilled I got when shopping - so many things to choose from... aisles and aisles... at my very finger tips. Stores and stores full of well stocked shelves. Deals everywhere! I had forgotten how affordable things in Texas were. I remember now why our Canadian friends and families came to visit us and "Christmas" shop at the same time, no matter the time of year.

I admit that I went a little crazy 'stocking up' (see my earlier post on hoarding), and when we checked in to Qatar Air on our return flight, our suitcases were all at their maximum weights (70 lbs each) - chock full of pure random goodness. Lost and lots of random goodness. I even (very) briefly considered throwing out old things to make more space for wonderful new things. I didn't, but boy did I pack with precision.

Back to the 3.52 lbs for a second. Despite the fact that my thoughtful personal trainer in Doha warned me about my vacation with words like "over indulging", "restraint", and "dedication", I went for it. Had to, really. Lupe's, Panera Bread, Tommy Bahama's, Rico's, Black Walnut, several MARGARITAS - I had to jam in all of our old favorites in just 14 days, plus a healthy dose of fine hotel livin'... A tall order! Thanks to all our sweet friends who met us for lovely breakfasts, lunches, dinners, coffees & ice creams... yummo!

This trip was a real treat for us - gave us time to reconnect with some special people that we plan to keep in our lives for a very long time. Lots of laughs every single day.

It confirmed for me that our little family needs to get ourselves back to Texas some day (with some prayers and a little luck perhaps) and, that even though it was hard to leave and return to Doha, it was good to be home again when we got here.

The weather has really cooled off, and we are settling back in to a nice routine once more. Ella slept through the night last night at last - first time in seven days (Au revoir, jet lag!!). And, getting licked from head to toe by two adoring little dogs when you get home from a long day of travelling is a wonderful end to an awesome two weeks.

In the mean time, it is back to the gym for me.

Paris in three weeks, mes amies!

Il n'y a qu' un bonheur dans la vie, c'est d'aimer et d'être aimé.