Looking forward to the 4th

One of the things I missed being in Dubai was seeing the American Flag. I have gotten over that but I think that the Fourth of July will have an extra special meaning for us this year. I have already bought the boys shirts (red, white and blue etc) and I think we will enjoy the parade and the fireworks. WE do every year, but this year will be extra special for us.
On the other hand I really miss the beach. I don't think we would be going this time of year anway, but I miss seeing it. I really am missing Ed and having my own car to just run around when I want. Of course that is probably a good thing as the price of gas is out of this world. ED is very busy at work and getting a lot of work done I hope. He is planning on taking vacation later in July and we will enjoy being in NY then.
Sunday night the kids had a marathon Risk tournament until about 2 in the morning. I could not go to bed until all the company left. Today, I am a bit tired. This morning it is very quiet around here. Amy and Dave left for work and Greg and Alex are still sleeping. Boy, this post seems boring compared to my posts from Dubai. But I am enjoying being here. I love the house and taking care of it. Occasionally Greg talks about selling this house and getting a "bigger and better one" and I just can't imagine leaving this place. I think he really just wants to have his own bathroom. I think Dubai may be spoiling him a bit. Alex on the other hand loves this house and does not want to sell it.
Saturday morning we went to Alex's Boy Scout troop meeting to create a float for the 4th of July parade. It was fun seeing all the parents and visiting while the boys worked on the float. Alex also got a bit more excited about scouts. I think camping in the desert has been getting a bit old for him and he is now looking forward to his summer camping at Camp Wakpominee. Trees, maybe rain, and real trails, lake to swim in and cooler weather. I won't remind him of the bugs and mud. He will remember that soon enough.

Cloudy, rainy Friday in NY

Another cloudy, rainy day. I feel better today, so I am taking the time to get a few things done around the house. The weekend will be free to visit and shop. The boys are all sitting at the dining room table playing Risk and I took a picture. They look so involved. It is good to see them playing a board game and not a computer or video game. I also like to see my boys enjoying each other's company. Miles is a new "rental". He is living here with Amy and Dave and seems to fit right in. I told him I feel like I have acquired another son.
I downloaded the skype program on my computer here in NY and used it to call ED in Dubai. It worked. Ed is there and safe and re-adjusting to Dubai time and temperature. He will be back here on the 16th of July and then hopefully, he will take a few weeks off and vacation with us. Not much else to write about today. I am still trying to get over this nasty cold.

Another NY Cold UGH!!!!!

I suppose I should be happy I only get two colds a year, but it seems like I only get them when we come home to NY. I am the only one afflicted so far. I hope it stays that way. And thankfully, it is not the chest cold I usually get, just stuffy nose, sore throat, etc. But I feel miserable and don't want to do all the things I have planned. I just want to lay around and feel aweful. Ed is on his way back to Dubai, in the air as I write this. I have a plan to call him when he gets to the house. I am hoping I can use my skype phone from here. I can't use it anymore from Dubai, the internet company has banned it I think.
Today I am going to St. Clares to visit with the nurse educators and see what info I can get from them to use at Medcare. I think it will be a depressing visit, as all the St. Clares signs are down and most everything else is gone...... Very sad. Even when you call, they answer the phone - Ellis Hospital. I wanted to say - This is not Ellis, it is ST. Clares. Oh well. I will get used to it.
The weather here continues to be cool, at least for us. Today there is more rain coming and I don't even care. I bought a new book last night and I may just sit and read and rest when I get back from my errands.

Life Is Almost Back To Normal????

It is almost scary to me to realize how normal it feels to be at home, doing housework, feeding the dog, making dinner, and answering the phone when I have been half way around the world for the past year. It seems like we have just fallen right back in to the regular routine of life and Dubai was just a dream?????? But we go back to that dream soon, so I will just enjoy the regular normal of life until then.
While we were gone our old grill "bit the dust" so to speak, so we bought a new one. Last night we "Christened" it and made chicken. It was really good. As usual I made too much but now we have left overs, which are always good. I am going to try and do some shopping today and tomorrow I meet with some of my friends from St. Cares to get some info to take back to Dubai. Ed will be leaving to go back on Wednesday night. I am going to miss him, but he will be back here mid July. The dog seems to be taking our visit nicely. Greg has been spending a lot of time brushing her, as she is shedding like crazy and brushing helps. Alex is spending a lot of time with his friends down the street and also from school. Not much else to write about right now. Boring is good surprisingly and it is fun catching up with my soaps and the regular TV programs that we missed.

Back in NY

Our trip was as uneventful as if we planned it that way!!!! Thank you God!! After the experience we had in January, I was a bit worried, but all is well. Our flights were even a few minutes early and when we got to JFK, the airport was not crowded so we had no lines to deal with and got into our rental car almost right away. WE had a nice drive home, and Wednesday night all the kids were here for pizza and wings and wine. WE also celebrated Greg's birthday and Father's Day. The kids got together and bought Ed an Ipod Touch. He is thrilled. It was a great idea for him. Yesterday and today, Ed is having meetings regarding his new position, what to expect, the benefits etc. I have loved just being around the house and "playing house". I really miss taking care of the place, so for the next six weeks I told Amy not to worry about cleaning. I will do it. I guess there is something to be said for the fact that this house is mine and the one in Dubai is only a rental. Even though I love that house, this is "home".
I must get to some appointments though. Both boys need orthodontist appts, I need a few doctors appts, hair appt of course, etc. I also have talked with my friend from St. Clares and found out that St. Clares is no longer there. It is now known by another name. Life goes on. But I will always miss that hospital. I really loved it there.

Another Adventure!!

I think by now, everyone is tired of me talking about everything we have been doing, but this time I am very happy about something I did today> I hired a house maid. Yes, you read that right. For the past few weeks, I have been pondering whether or not to "take the plunge", after discussing it with Ed, we decided it was a good idea. Especially since I am going to be in NY for 6 weeks and he will be here part of the time alone, I think it made him happy too. She will even do Ed's laundry. One interesting side note. Many of the women here in Dubai have never heard of Perma Press shirts. They send their man's shirts out to be done. When I told this girl that I wash Ed's shirts in the washer she looked shocked. Man I feel like I have been committing a crime. But I showed her his shirts and they don't look bad so I think I convinced her. Also, when I come back to Dubai, I am going to be working longer hours. Not 8 hour days but 6. I am doing this so I can pick up the boys from school next year. We will see how this all works out. I already like the idea that I don't have to clean before I leave. Chandi said she will have the house all cleaned before Ed gets home next week. YEAH!!!!!
I had an unusual request from one of my friends at work. He would like me to bring him some seeds from a plant that grows just in America or just in NY. He wants to take it to Lebanon and plant it and tell everyone it is from his friend from America. I am doing my part for world peace!!!!! Now everyone has to help me find something that is just from America??????

Summer is officially here!!!

Even though it is hot here all the time, it really is starting to feel like summer. The boys are finally finished with school and we are planning our trip home to NY in a few days. So, yes it feels like summer. I am going to miss having the beach so close and my gym where there is a very nice pool to sit by but I will sacrifice for seeing my house and my dog. I also have a "few" friends I want to see. Along with all the family whom I miss the most. Medcare Hospital is giving me an assignment while I am away as well so I will be a bit busy.
Today (Saturday) we went back to the Outlet Mall and walked around, Greg got his birthday present and I picked up a thing or two. I am not buying much right now because I want to shop in NY. Ed is leaving tonight for a quick trip to Saudi and when he comes back we will be headed off to NY. I am still working on captions for all of Dave's pictures from his trip here. Gives me something to do when I am bored. Hope everyone is enjoying them.

Life back to ?normal?

After Amy and Dave left, we settled back into "normal" life around here. The boys have now finished their first year of school in Dubai. Both have done extremely well. Considering the challenges they had to face I am very proud of them. They both have grown beyond their years.
I also have had some time to think about what impressed me the most about Egypt. I did enjoy seeing the pyramids, but the poverty of the city of Cairo in contrast with the rich was very evident. We come from Dubai where you almost never see a car older then 2 years and go to a country where you rarely see one that new. Most people drive broken down, older cars and many get around in wagons pulled by donkeys, or motorcycles. WE actually saw a motorcycle with a mother, father and two small children all on one cycle. The mother was holding an infant!! And the other child was only about 3 or 4. We also saw a motorcycle with four men on it at one time. David has now posted all his pictures and I am putting captions on them, but it will take awhile, he has a lot of pictures. Our hotel in Cairo was very pretty in difference to the poor housing that we saw. It was very ornate and had cherry wood furniture in the rooms, a really nice buffet breakfast was included and there was a nice pool area. I would compare it to a nicer hotel in the states.
My friend Mona told me that Americans cannot travel in Egypt without an armed guard???? We didn't know that. I think I may have thought twice about going if I had that information before the trip, but thankfully, there were no incidents. The travel agency that we booked our trip with did a very good job, giving us transportation and extra people to help us when we needed it, even when we added things to the itinerary. We always had a driver, minivan and guide. It was a nice experience. There was a lot of security wherever we went though. Getting into the hotel, we had a dog sniffing around the car before we could get into the lot, there was also a metal detector at the entrance to the hotel and they checked our bags. Just a few things I wanted to remember about the trip.

Home from Egypt

Friday night we arrived home from Egypt and almost went straight to bed. It was a really fun filled but busy few days. We were all tired. Saturday Ed suggested we do a triple mall "event". Of course it could not only be one mall but THREE!!!! We started at the outlet mall. I had never been there but we found it really nice, quiet, and the prices were not bad. Then we drove for quite awhile and went to the Dragonmart. On the way we stopped to take pictures of a camel alongside the road. The Dragon Mart is not my favorite place, but Ed loves it there so we shopped for awhile and then we moved on to Festival City which is one of my favorites. We had dinner there and walked around until it was time to leave.
Sunday was back to work for Ed and myself. I left work early to get Greg from school - he only had one final to take that day. We picked up Amy and Dave and they went to Wild Wadi for the afternoon. That night we went to a new Mexican Restaurant which just opened and it was very good and right along the beach. Monday, after I worked my four hours, I came home and picked up Amy and Dave and we went to Abu Dhabi to the Emirates Palace Hotel to see a Picasso exhibit. Amy heard it was there and had to see it. I had never been to Abu Dhabi so it was quite an experience for me too. The hotel is immense and very ornate and pretty. That night we went out for a steak dinner and we sat outside along a waterfront. Having Amy and Dave here was a lot of fun and we did so much. It was hard to say good bye to them, but I could not get too upset because we are leaving here on the 18th (8 days) to go to NY for most of the summer. We will see them soon. I am happy we got to do as much as we did.

More Egypt!!

My last post was written when I was really tired and I forgot a few things. Before we had lunch on Thursday, we went to an art studio where they make the paper from Papyrus plants before they paint on it. Again, we bought something. I got the tree of life with all of the family names written in heiroglyphics (sp). We also got the Egyptian calander, both will look really nice framed.
After lunch we went to the Saqqara steps or the pyramid steps. Ed, Amy and boys went down under into a pyramid to see King Tut's tomb. His body and sarcofagus (sp again!) were lost on the Titanic. Aren't you impressed with my knowledge of history?? I didn't want to go into a tomb. After this adventure, we went back to the hotel, took a dip in the pool and got ready to go see the lazer light show at the pyramids. It was a breezy cool evening and we sat outside to watch the show that was a history lesson as much as it was entertainment. It was really neat. I think we all fell into bed that night.
Early Friday morning David called our room and told me he was sick, stomach bug! He was really not well. We left him at the hotel and took a walking tour of churches in Egypt including a synagogue. We were supposed to tour a mosque but decided to skip that and pick David up, have some lunch and go to the Egyptian museum. Our tour guide was full of information he was anxious to share about the museum pieces and I enjoyed it a lot. After the museum, we said good bye to our tourguide and went to the airport, for the trip home.

PYRAMIDS AND EGYPT !!!!!!!!!

I don't know where to start. Last Wednesday, we picked Alex and Greg up from school at noon. They were upset to be missing 1 1/2 days of school but we made them do it...... We headed to the airport for a 3:30 flight and all went well. The flight over was uneventful, meal on the plane was good and the movies were enjoyable. When we landed in Cairo, our tour guide met us at the airport and handled our visas etc. He took us right to our dinner cruise which he booked while we were standing in the airport. ( We decided we wanted to do it when we saw what good time we made getting into Cairo) It was only 7:30 and we had all night. We arrived at the boat about a half hour early so we walked around the pier and looked at some of the boats. The meal was tasty and the entertainment was a belly dancer and a whirling dirvish (not sure of the spelling), it is a man who spins constantly while balancing things and twirls until you almost feel dizzy, but he doesn't. When we finally got to the hotel, we went to bed almost right away. We had to meet our tour guide at 8:00 AM. When our guide met us, he had a driver with him and another man, dressed in a suite. We were told that he was security?? Ed asked if that was necessary and Ahmed (our guide) just said if we do anything wrong he would arrest us - but he was kidding. The man was there to protect us. He had a gun under his coat!!! He went everywhere we did and got a bit upset when we would split up to look at anything. Anyway, It was a really full day starting with the pyramids. I was totally in awe of them. I had no idea they were so large. The bottom stones are taller then the kids. We took many pictures and the kids went inside, which is a very small cramped space, and looked around. I decided to stay outside. After many pictures, we visited the two other pyramids and then the sphinx. We were all hot and tired so Ahmed took us to a perfume store - where it was air conditioned, we had something to drink and we were taught the healing properties of perfume. They also showed us how the glass bottles were hand blown to hold the perfume. Of course we had to buy some perfume.
After we left the perfume store, we went to lunch at a local buffet. More later.

Fun Visit So Far

Amy and Dave arrived without incident last Thursday. We have been busy every since. I was trying to work my usual hours but today I decided to not go into work. We want to get as much time site seeing as possible. So far we have gone on Safari - Dune bashing which was really fun. We went with a different company this time and the driver was very good. He went a lot faster then our previous driver and even "bashed" in the dark when we left the bedoin village. Even though it was very hot in the desert, it was still a good time. Friday we started the day with a driving tour of Dubai with Ed as the tour guide. We had McDonalds for lunch and the kids tried the McArabia sandwich which is my favorite and you cannot get in the states. Then we did the safari. Saturday we hung around the house and Ed took the kids to Ibn Battuta mall while I prepared for our company. Mona and family and Tanya and family came over that night for dinner and to meet the kids. Sunday we went to Madinat Jumeriah Souk for lunch and walked around and then I took Amy and Dave to Medcare to meet my co-workers. I had talked about them coming for so long, they wanted to meet them. It was fun showing off the hospital. Then we came home and Amy and Dave discovered they had jet lag and Amy slept for a long time before dinner. Dave has been having trouble falling asleep and then sleeps longer in the morning. Yesterday, we went to the beach and then to the Mall of the Emirates for dinner. Today we will be going to the gym, back to Mall of the Emirates to do some more shopping and then Hard Rock Cafe. Tomorrow, we leave for Egypt for a few days. Both Amy and Dave have been taking a lot of pictures and they will be posted soon.