Sleepy...

Sorry for the lack of posts in the month of August. As you know I went home for vacation and we had a great time with family and friends.  I have pictures to post and just a little update about our fun time at home....but right now I can barely keep my eyes open.  Jet lag can really kick your butt. I forget how it feels each time until it comes around again! 

We didn't sleep so well the last 3 nights so each afternoon at work, we're paying for it.  By the time the end of work comes, I can barely make it.  I'm going to try not to take a nap tonight and instead just go to bed early and hopefully sleep at least halfway through the night--that's a good goal for now. 

We jumped back into a busy place and I have a bunch of events coming up in September so it's been busy. 

I'm not sure if my post is making any sense right now nor am I sure that I am spelling things correctly, so I'm going to go. But we're alive and well.  Our Magic Jack is working great again...so call us!  We try to keep it plugged in when we're home and even when we're out.

I got some of the wall decals posted that I bought when we were home.  We had 3 clocks on the wall and we got the wording posted underneath them now...they look good to me!  Trey was pretty excited, too.

Alright. I'm outta here. I'll post more when I get out of this jet lag fog.

Summer Summertime.....

We're having a great time at home.  Sorry for the lack of posts.  I don't have my camera cord to give you pictures but hopefully we'll do that soon so you can see what we've been up to.

We made some great summer recipes this weekend with my family that I will share.  All were excellent.  Blueberry Peach Cobbler which was excellent with a butter crumb topping.  Mussels in white wine sauce and then we used the broth  to make homemade corn chowder.  Jalapeno corn bread in a cast iron skillet.  Ribs that were cooked in the oven with a rub that just fell off the bone. And pulled pork that was roasted on the grill for well over 12 hours.  I'll post pictures soon.

We've had fun with family, friends and shopping.  Princeton, NJ is a cute little town for shopping. I love Target and Costco and wish we had them in the UAE.  Maybe I'll open them there.  Pedicures.  Fresh air.  Cloudy days. All things I love and don't get in the UAE.

Trey arrived on Thursday (I was home a week longer than him) and we leave for Massachusetts tomorrow to see Trey's family and to see our college friends next weekend.  Looking forward to it. 

Why does vacation have to go so quickly always?

Leaving on a jet plane....

Update: I'm at London's Heathrow airport.  I got a nice little bump up to Business Class because the flight was full. I had booked us on their Economy Plus seats which are just a bit nicer than Economy but hey, Business is even better!  I'll take this.  And because I got Business Class, I get to use the Business Class Club Room for free!  That was a great way to start off a vacation!  Also, I think that it helped that I was traveling alone.  They only needed to bump me up and not 2 people or a family, etc.  I'm leaving Trey behind every time!  Since it's BA's hub, the Club Room is rather spacious and has made my 6 hour layover much better than anticipated.  Partly due to the nice seat I had last night. I got some sleep and I plan to sleep on my next flight, too. Ahhh.....the life of luxury.  Usually I end up getting some sleep anyway because I just make sure that I lay on Trey's shoulder or get the window.  But last night I had a man next to me who had a nasty cold--you could tell he felt miserable, but I was trying to make sure we didn't touch any common space. I tried to stay as far to my side as I could so that I don't get sick on my trip home.   I hope poor Terry gets bumped on his way home, too. If not, I'll just tell him about my experience so he can dream about it. 

Target, here I come!

Original Post: I'm on an airplane right now...probably in London with my layover or sleeping. I actually don't think I'll like flying this long flight without Trey--I'll be bored but we fly back together so that is good.

It's so good to get back to America every so often and see people and do things that feel "normal" to me and be in my own culture.  It's necessary.

Hang it up....

Well, we started to hang things on the wall last night!  I am so happy.  Our friends let us use their vacuum with this fabulous attachment that you put on the wall while drilling and sucks the dust right away so that it doesn't land on the ground!  It's magical and has changed my life.  I won't do any drilling without it anymore.  It creates like a vacuum seal to the wall and has a hole for your drilling spot.  When you're done, all of your drilling dust is in the vacuum and not on the floor.  What a delight.

So far we got the chalkboard hung up in the kitchen.

We got the 3 clocks up but I am waiting to get the vinyl signs that will go underneath that will say Boston, Bethlehem and Al Ain.  3 places that we have lived.  There are no batteries in them yet, so the time isn't right for all of you detective-like people who wonder why the clocks are not set to the right time.  These are over our couch.

And we got the magazine rack hung.  I need to get some magazines, now!

Sing us a song, you're the piano man.......

Trey has found this inner desire to play the piano.  He's perfected the first 4 notes of Silent Night --or should I say the first 8 since they repeat and something else, but it slips my mind.  Anyway, if we go to someones house to visit and they have a piano, he always sits down to "ting ding" on it. I can't use the word "play" yet because he's just not there....but hopefully he'll get there.   Maybe we'll bring back some my easy piano books that I had from lessons years ago and he can start working on more than Silent Night. 

Kate here was visiting from Massachusetts and was teaching Trey how to play a scale.  That's a good step! 

Anyway, so maybe he'll start taking lessons.  I loved my teacher while living on the North Shore in Massachusetts and wish Trey could take lessons with her. She made it fun and there was no pressure.  But we have a House of Arts here and then I'm sure he could find some other people at the hospital who play, so maybe he can really start to play.  We heard about cheap pianos that you can get in Dubai--but usually you get what you pay for--so who knows.  Next time you see him, ask him to give you a concert or maybe just ask him to play the first 8 notes of Silent Night:)

On the television.....

Our tv got hooked up last week.

I found the FOOD NETWORK. Love that channel and my favorite is Ina Garten or better known as the Barefoot Contessa.

It was fun to see her on tv an be able to watch some of the same things you guys do back home!