Twilight in Doha

You may call me Bella...

Well, there it was. All over my Christmas trip to Houston.

First it was Jennifer and Pen, deciding they needed to see "what all the fuss was about." Jennifer, reading late in the night while I slept upstairs.

Then it was my sister, who had Twilight on her bedside table. "I've heard it's really good!"

Then it was Tammy, my hairdresser, who gushed interminably about Edward. She was through book 3.

Then is was Caroline who brought her own Book 2 to our Christmas Book Exchange.

So, what's a girl to do? I started Twilight on our 9 hour drive to Mississippi. My own copy of Twilight that Jennifer so generously bought for me. What I didn't know was that I would immediately love it and that New Moon was NO WHERE to be found in Jackson, Mississippi.

"Jennifer. It's Sharon. You HAVE to order book 2 for me and have it rushed to Dallas. It must be there when I get there." Jennifer is a GOOD friend.

In Dallas:

Terri received the complete set from her step-daughter Lauren.

Denise, who lives in Washington, had started them and told me about tours they're having in Forks, Washington.

Wendy - gushing about the books.

It was everywhere.

Back in Houston, for our last 2 days, Jennifer and Mary and I are at Borders and there is one copy left of Breaking Dawn. I had to have it. The biggest mistake I made coming back to Doha? Putting Breaking Dawn into a box which was shipped back to Doha. And those boxes took a long time to get here.


But the boxes did arrive and I have now spent the last 5 days reading, as much as possible when you have 3 kids who are...hungry.

Gwen called from Scotland. I promised her I would look into Spring Break trip for our families. "Uhh - Gwen? I haven't done anything about our trip. You see, I'm reading these books. Have you heard of the Twilight series?" Turns out, Gwen is reading them, too. She let me off the hook, for now.

And now I'm done. And I'm sad...and anxious for Midnight Sun. It's on the internet. It's gonna be great.

It's Only Friday

but someone's been giving me a a hard time about not posting recently. I just posted Tuesday. My life is just not that exciting.

So let's see, it's Friday in Doha. My husband is in Barcelona for work. The kids and I are spending another lazy day, not being very productive at all. I have no pictures to show or news to report (of any import anyway). Kaylie and Scott start soccer tomorrow. There's a big school gala next week. We are trying to book a trip to Dubai at the end of the month. Well, not trying very hard at all, because really, all I have to is go online and get it done. So let's say I'm THINKING of booking a trip to Dubai. (We originally thought we'd take a trip to Lebanon, but with the wild stuff going on right now, we changed our minds).

So that's it! Consider yourself up-to-date. I'm off to unpack one last box of books in the boys' room, empty the dishwasher, and try to entertain my very bored 10 year-old daughter.

Camera Found!

After unpacking 7 of 9 suitcases (hush, all you overachievers out there), I finally found the camera. And, just as I thought, there are very few pictures to remind us of our trip home. This is what happens when you are busy visiting all your old friends and family.

After spending 10 whirlwind days in Houston, it was off to Mississippi. Here we celebrated John's 6th birthday. Can he really be 6? And because I was not prepared gift-wise, I simply took him to Target (oh, so fun) and let him pick out 3 presents. Legos, new nerf gun, and a new DS game. He was thrilled. Then John received the standard 6 year-old gift in the Dickerson family, his own BB gun. Fun times! Too bad I don't have a picture of that.



Then it was off to Dallas for Christmas week. I spent the week shopping with my sister and old friends, none of which live in Dallas anymore. So it was a treat to see them again. Christmas Eve at my old church and Santa at Nana and Tata's house. It wasn't home, but it was the next best thing.




Too soon, it was back to Houston for two short days and we were off again to our new home.

Jet lag really hit us hard. The kids started school on Sunday, but I had to keep John home on Monday due to lack of sleep. The poor kid fell asleep in the bathtub that morning. That was a bit of a scare. But now, everyone seems to be back to normal, except me, who still has problems sleeping all night long. That will pass quickly, I'm sure.

Are we glad to be back in our own beds? Yes. Do we still miss Texas. Yes. Here's to a fun-filled, travel-packed spring!

Did I even take pictures this Christmas?

Honestly, I can't remember. Somewhere, in 9 suitcases and 5 carry-on bags there is a camera. I'll have to find it and post what measly pictures there are.

We are "home." I'm struggling with this as I feel like we were "home" for Christmas. But now we are truly at home, sleeping in our own beds. We arrived last night, at midnight no less, exhausted from our 24 hour trip. It will be fun seeing how long it takes all 5 of us to get back on Doha time. Hopefully it will happen by Sunday, when the kids start back to school.

We absolutely had the best time in Spring, Mississippi and Dallas. And man, did time fly by. But 3 weeks out of a suitcase can be hard, so it was finally time to get back to normal life.

So here we are. A grocery store trip today is a must. Healthy eating is on the list of New Year's Resolutions. I'll let you know how that goes.

So, no new music right now. I have too much on my mind. But to all of you back in the states, we absolutely loved seeing you after four months away. Thank you for putting up with us.

10 days already????

Can it really be that we've been in Houston for 10 days? And leave today for Mississippi? It has flown by. Does time move this fast when we are in Doha? I don't think so.

What a visit it has been. IT SNOWED!!! Look at my friend Kim's blog to see pictures. We weren't over the jet lag enough to manage any pictures. But it really came down. What a treat for the kids.

The kids got to see their old school and neighborhood friends. I got to go to my book club's Christmas dinner. I got to play some tennis. I got to see season 5 of ENTOURAGE! In a word, it has been FABULOUS.

We leave for Mississippi today, then to Dallas on Monday where we will spend Christmas. Maybe, just maybe, I'll manage to pull my camera out and snap some pictures.

I've got to go help pack up the family! Our best to all.

Can It Be?

Well, the time is here. You see that countdown? Only one more day until we land, but we takeoff tonight. It's just about a 24 hour trip. We are very far away.

To all our new friends in Doha, we can't wait to see you in the new year. You have made this move all the better by knowing you.

To all our old friends and family in Texas and Mississippi, we cannot wait to see you again. The anticipation of coming home has sustained us through these last few weeks. We will see you VERY, VERY SOON!

Our love to all!

Could this be Meyer Park?

Let's see, beautiful, sunny day. 5th grade girls playing soccer......

The uniforms are red.....

Kathryn's number is......wait! Her number is 4, not 22! Something's not quite right. And that's Ashlyn next to her on the same team. Ashlyn always played on an opposing team.

Something else isn't right. Head coverings on the soccer fields?


Parents watching in traditional Arab dress?


"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."