That Place...

It's been a week since we got home from our most recent vacation - an awesome week spent soaking up the sun, playing in the waves, exploring the little island in the Maldives that we called home for a week, and tasting all kinds of delicious food. It was seriously one of the nicest places we have ever been. Those memories will be floating around in my mind for years to come.



Walking the beach, Maldives 2011



Given my dreamy post-vacation like state this week (where I had a serious dinner conversation with my husband about the possibility of quitting his job and becoming employees of a surf shop or local restaurant on some tropical island, living in a beach hut and lapping up a simpler life... he said no, but a good discussion none the less), a friend posed an interesting question on Facebook that got me reminiscing.

His status said the following: Ever go to one of those places that you never forget, that you think of often, that you perhaps return to or want to, that when you think about it, you see it in your mind and wonder what’s happening there right now and how you need to go back? What place is that? It could be the Seychelles or your hometown. Tell me what it is right now…………

He got many responses, including mine. I quickly added a few favorites - the Cape Breton Highlands where I spent many happy summers as a little girl, the Texas Hill Country, where Colin & I would often get away together for a romantic weekend,  and the City of Halifax, where C & I both went to university, met, and fell in love.

Orlando, FL 2008

Rocky Mountains 2007

I checked back a few times to see where other people went when they day dreamed, where they drifted away to during a boring work day or a sleepless night. Very intriguing. 

Peggys Cove NS, 2005

So, my list has kept growing in my mind all week... the bungalow we rented in Peggy's Cove one weekend when we could hardly find each other through all the fog... the little Italian cafe in San Francisco that we shared a few laughs over a bottle of wine on a summer afternoon as we sat 'people watching'... the vineyard in Napa Valley where we spread a blanket and had, hands down, the best picnic ever... the day we canoed around Emerald Lake and talked about where we wanted to raise a family and where we might some day retire... or that random hotel we stayed at in Field, BC, where we ended up meeting some amazing strangers while sharing an exceptional meal.

Ahhh - the memories.  

I could go on and on. Seriously, I could. I am one lucky girl.



Christmas in Qatar 2010

It should be noted here that from time to time, I will grumble about living in Doha. Have you noticed?

Colin reminded me this week, as we talked about planning a summer trip to Canada, that some day, we will look back at our time in the Middle East with affection, as we've already made lots of great memories here. Yes, he is that kind of guy. Sometimes his optimism can really get to me, but in this instance, I know he is right. One of the reasons I married him ; )

We will look back at our time here as a wild and crazy adventure that we once had - 'Hey, do you remember that time we packed up everything we owned and moved half way around the world to Qatar?'

Yep, I sure do.


Napa Inn in Napa Valley - A snuggle on the patio
after an awesome day

Thanks Tim, for encouraging me to remember some fantastic moments this week. And thanks Colin, for helping me live them.

Please leave a comment if you have a place you want to add to Tim's list. I will read & enjoy every one :)

Three Little Birds

It's only 8pm, the evening before we leave, and I am almost packed! This is a record. Has to be. C is another story (currently out golfing and hasn't even opened his suitcase yet), but the bean and I are pretty much ready to go. I have spent basically ALL afternoon organizing, doing laundry and packing. This is exciting. I am super pumped.

In the wee hours of tomorrow morning, we leave for the Maldives.
(Can I get a WOOT WOOT?)
Our first tropical holiday since becoming parents. Seriously... I can't even remember our last vacation to a beach. I am guessing about three years ago? Maybe four. It may be a 'bit' different since our last retreat to a tropical desitination (days filled with sleeping in, lounging by the water, reading a few good books and sipping a few good drinks) but we are up for the challenge.
Can't wait.
These three little birds will be doning sun hats and bathing suits first thing tomorrow.
Yahoo for vacations! Life is good!

Bentley's Knees

The item most on my mind this week: Bentley's knees. His back knees, specifically.


Benny in Texas - 2007



Ben's first night with us - 8 weeks old

 Our tiny ball of fire with his floppy ears and tail wag that really wags his entire body  isn’t 100% right now. Ben has been having a weird 'thing' happen for the last month or so - almost not noticeable at first - but we still started thinking we should get it checked out.

Every night before bed, both dogs get a good long walk. We started noticing when we were on these walks that every so often (like once a week), Ben would pick up his back leg, let out a little noise, hop a few steps, then put his leg back down, trotting along like nothing had happened.

We tried to excuse it away - maybe he had a muscle cramp, maybe his nails were too long, or maybe he had a splinter in his paw. But, after ruling out everything we could think of, we decided it was time for a professional’s opinion.

There are not many veterinary clinics in Doha, but we have managed to find a decent one (which we've used since we arrived last year), and last Saturday, we took him in for a consultation.

His diagnosis: Grade 2 Luxating Patella

This basically means that Bentley's knee cap is popping out of place every so often, which could be a genetic thing, and will get worse with age. When he picks up his back leg (or, when he goes "lame", as the vet described it), his patella (knee cap) deviates from the natural groove in his femur.

Here's the thing - all the reading we've done suggests that if you are going to go ahead and do the surgery (recommended around stage 3) then you should really get a specialist who does this operation routinely, as the results can really vary if an inexperienced surgeon attempts this type of correction.

The vet here couldn't really answer all of our questions about Bentley's knee issues, and when Colin wanted to talk further about how involved the surgery would be, he proceeded to get out his handy 'Surgical Manual for Veterinarian Students' book (my confidence in him plummeted at this point).

I understand that there was a language barrier (our vet’s first language was not English), but I didn’t like how keen he was to do this to our three year old pup, who has only just begun to show any symptoms. He wanted us to book it right away. No discussion of any other options. Groan. I felt, knowing Ben, that this was/is not in his best interests at this point, without more information.

2010

I believe his diagnosis is correct - pretty much EXACTLY how it's described online - and we've since found out that this commonly affects Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, as they are a smaller dog breed prone to joint issues. Performing such a major surgery here (with months of healing time involved) raises some red flags, though. Unless you are a camel, options for certain animal care here is a bit limited, sad to say. I know he will have to get surgery to have this problem corrected - I just hope it doesn't get any worse for a long while (our vet said it will probably progress slowly). 



Halloween 2009 - HATED his bee costume

We had some great suggestions from informed friends about dietary supplements and exercise that could really help, but talk about a bad scenario. It’s when these kinds of things happen that I really appreciate how fortunate we were in both Canada, and the USA, to have experts in any field (dog or otherwise) at our very finger tips.

We are going to try for a second opinion at another office we've heard decent things about, and until then, we'll do everything we can to keep him happy and healthy, with his tail waggin'. Neither C or I have seen him do the three-legged hop thing for over a week and a half. And believe me, we have been watching for it.

All suggestions, prayers and comments welcome!



 2011 - Never far from Cooper ... or Ella



Please Bring Your Sir

Doha isn't perfect. Not by a long stretch.
It has indeed caused me more than one headache on occasion. The constant construction, the crazy driving (refer to last years post on that one!) the heat, the sand storms, the traffic, the grocery shopping, the lack of labour standards for many of its workers, the idiosyncrasies of the Qatari people... my list could go on.
But, I must say that I have found my Doha groove these last few months, and generally speaking, its been smooth sailing lately. Fun even. Someone please touch wood for me.
I didn't think it would happen, but folks, we have settled in rather nicely. House is lookin' more like a home, we have favourite restaurants, have made some genuine friends in our neighbours, my shelves are stocked with ample whatnots because I now know where to shop, picked up a few arabic phrases to get us by in a pinch, the garden is...passable. My point is - we've acclimatized.
Every once and a while, however, something - maybe not even a 'big' thing - will happen, and it shocks me back into the reality of where I am and how absurd this place can really be at times.
Doha has laws and regulations, like any major city. Do they make sense? Sometimes. I think seeing 'sense' in certain laws is entirely dependent on WHO you are and where you come from.
I try to make a point of not getting too much into various customs, religions or politics when I write (there are enough blogs out there for that), but I must chat about my morning at Qtel for just a moment.
Qtel has the monolpoly on telephone, internet and cable services in Qatar. We therefore have our mobile phones, home phone, internet and cable accounts with them. Fortunately, most of what we have had to do with our accounts has been able to be accomplished online.
But, this week, I had to go in for two reasons:
1. Our monthly statements have been coming to our house addressed to the C. Ghisholm. Colin got a kick out of it, as I think he is fairly used to people misspelling our last name, but it irked me and I said if I ever had to go into Qtel personally, I would fix it (it's only taken me a year!).
2. We want to upgrade our internet speed.

Easy enough, right?

Well, after a 15 minute wait in the line up, it is my turn (by this time, Ella is yelling at people walking by from her stroller, just to pass the time). The frazzled looking Filipino guy behind the counter listens to what I want to do and shakes his head sadly. This is what follows:
"You need to bring your Sir, Ma'am."
"What?"
"Your Sir... umm, husband... please bring him in to do this"
"Well, my Sir  will never be able to get down here during business hours just to fix one letter in our name and upgrade our internet speed, but I am here now, so I want to do it."
"Sorry Ma'am."
"Please get me your manager".

So, after another wait, an impressive looking Qatari saunters over to our counter. I explain what I want help with. He takes a hard look at our phone bill, and then at my Qatari ID card (with Chisholm clearly spelled out on it), and I sweetly repeat my request to have the letter changed from a G to a C in our family name. I tell him I understand the account is in my husband's name (with mine as a secondary), but he has asked me to do this for him (seriously - I said this).

He didn't bat an eye - "No".
What does he mean, NO?

I ask why and he says that my husband needs to sign a form. I repeat how I am here now to sign the form for our account.
It went on like this for a few minutes, and finally, against all odds, I partially win.
The Qatari manager instructs the customer service guy to photocopy my drivers license, my Qatar ID, and one other form of ID, and I have to fill out an official looking form requesting their error be corrected. Their error. My customer service guy said he would follow up, but who knows if the G will ever get changed. He said it could take weeks.
As for the internet speed... well, I came home with not one, but three different forms for my Sir to fill out and return in person.
C had a big laugh at this. How I needed my Sir to get it done. I guess our internet will remain slow for a little while longer... *sigh*... Ahh, Doha.

TGIT!

It's Thursday in Doha, which means that it is the official start of our weekend. I have come to love Thursday's since we moved here. I guess it's exactly that 'Friday feeling' that I used to get when the week is done, and you let out a big sigh of relief... ready to ease into the weekend with no specific plans and a smile on your face.
I think I am giong to start a new blog ritual. My TGIT pick of the week song. I follow some great blogs that post songs from time to time, and I always enjoy listening to them & finding out the author's reason behind the song selection.

My first song: Can't Keep It In - Cat Stevens

My reason: I used to love this song when I went through a serious Cat Stevens phase in college (thanks for that, Dad). I hadn't heard it in a very long time, and when Ryanne was staying with us earlier this month, I was in a hurry one night heading to the gym & couldn't find my iPod, so she lent me hers as I rushed off.

While I was jogging on the treadmill, I browsed her tunes, and lookie lookie... Cat Stevens! Yeah!
Ever since, Can't Keep It In has been stuck in my head on repeat.

So today, I was driving in the car with Ella, having just picked up some yummy Portuguese food for dinner & heading home (note:  house rule is I don't cook on Thursday nights)... the sun was shining, there was a great breeze coming in through the window, and we are cruising down the desert highway (literally).

You can picture it, can't you?

I turn up a little Cat Stevens to keep us company, and Ella & I proceed to rock out together. She is a serious music lover. Life is good.
Great day today.

Welcome weekend!

Nana Murphy and Aunt Iyaa in Qatar

It's been a busy month with my mom & C's sister delighting us with visits from Canada & South Korea. The sun shone, the sand blew, and we had a blast. Must share some highlight pics:


Hello Nana



love



Doha Pearl



Hello Aunt Ryanne





Al Ruweis



caught actin' crazy

Saffron Indian Restaurant

Robot Camel Jockeys - Doha Camel Races

Fun in the sand @ Sealine Beach



Night Dhow Cruise



The Oaxaca Fudge Bars with Cashew Crumb Topping That Made My Weekend

I've stumbled upon something I have to share. See my earlier post about my renewed interest in baking that explains all my time in the kitchen lately.

On Friday night, we had just finished watching an episode of Burn Notice (love), and when we turned it off, the Food Network channel happened to be on the TV (Colin & I actually watch this channel lots... Bobby Flay, Diners Drive-Ins & Dives... quality stuff).

The show that was on was a FN rerun of a 'Best Dessert Showdown'. So, of course we watched. Well, my mom fell asleep, but C & I were very interested.

There were some serious cookie-baking competitors, but the shining star who took the grand prize (a cool 25,000 bucks), was a lady from Texas who created a spicy treat she called Oaxaca Fudge Bars (Oaxaca - pronounced "wo-hah-ka" - is considered the culinary capital of Mexico).

These little treats caught my eye for one big reason... one of the key ingredients was actually chipotle chili powder.

Of course I had to make them. C has a new favorite treat, I think.

So, yesterday I gathered all my ingredients after a quick Google to get the winning recipe, and went to town.

And, they were surprisingly easy to make.

Warm fudgey goodness with a zing of pepper and espresso... add the salty and crunchy topping and you pretty much have baked perfection, Mexican style.

Not for everyone, and probably best served as an adult dessert, but I know what I will be adding to the menu next time we make enchiladas for dinner or host a Cinco de Mayo party.

Click here for the FN recipe... enjoy!!