The Truth

I want you all to know I am committed to blogging the truth.

I simply report what I see. I don't make things up! {and if I do, I'll tell you}

So. Here is the plain, simple truth.

We moved from Michigan. Today in Michigan, schools were closed because of snow and ice.

We moved here. This is what we did after school this week.

We just ate some snacks.

We just enjoyed the view from the couch.

We just played with some toys and friends.

There you have it. The truth.

{please disregard this post come mid-July when I am melting in the 120 degree heat}

Nuns...Bikinis...Camels...and My Husband

It can only be described as a once in a lifetime moment.

I stand in those moments and usually laugh and ask:

How is the world did I get here?

Let me start from the beginning.

We live in a 99% Muslim country.

Muslims are very conservative people.

I respect that.

I try to dress in a way that shows I respect their standards of modesty.

For instance: I NEVER wear a swim suit on the public beach. It would just be a mess!

Well, we {hubby and I} were invited to an event in town that I NEVER would have come up with in my wildest dreams living in the conservative town that I live in....

A Brazilian bikini fashion show to promote conserving the beautiful environment {ie: sea life and coral reef} of our community.

I was invited to display the recycled crafts from the ladies I work with. My husband was invited to give a speech on recycling as a representative of the only recycling company in the country that he consults for.

Hubby giving his speech. Why does he look like Jesus, you ask? My nice camera had a horrible accident and I had to use my iphone camera. Iphones don't work well at night with stage lights.

It got really exciting after the speech.

{that was not meant to be a reflection of your speech, honey}.

{He could just not complete with what happened next}

Belly dancing. See what I mean?

Then...

The bikini models arriving on camels.

 Don't worry, it gets better...

Yup. A Brazilian bikini fashion show.

You want to know the best part of the evening for me?

I was not sitting in the crowd since I was standing by all my wares on display. Therefore, I had a great view of the crowd. All night long, all I could do was stare and giggle at my husband. He was sitting in the front row. Watching the bikini models bounce down the runway. Sitting in the middle of three nuns.

The nuns run a Rosary School in town and were there to support their students who presented the work of their ecology club. Yup. Nuns. Watching belly dancers. Camels. Models. Bikinis.

Next to my husband.

I was inspired to save the coral.

Two Pictures

These two photographs were taken about the same time.

They explain something important:

I live in paradise.

{ignoring all the protests and general mayhem, of course}

where we used to live

where we live

A Middle East Guide to Aircraft Overhead

I woke up the other morning and sent a text message to a bunch of friends that read:

Good morning great friends! Are we the only ones that heard explosions this morning at 6 am?

I find it kind of disturbing that I send text messages like that.
No one else heard the explosions...
It happened again the next morning, but I was too lazy to send a message out again.
I blamed it on the road construction going on behind our neighborhood.

A local friend recently stated when we worried out loud about our safety:

Oh, your city is so safe... you only get bombs or rockets 4-5 times a year, it's not like you live in Baghdad!

{as if terrorist threats are like thunderstorms}

Needless to say, we see a lot of aircraft flying overhead in our little city. My dear hubby created a viewing guide for reference when I hear the chug-chug-chug or whiiiishhhhh and look out the window...then I will know exactly what to do.

I wondered if this may help someone else out there. So, I decided to be nice and share.

A Middle East Guide to Aircraft Overhead

F-16's flying in formation

GOOD: graduation or event nearby


F-16's flying in two-plane attack formation close to the speed of sound

GOOD/BAD: military trying to scare the hummus out of some stupid terrorists

F-16

Desert Camo Huey's in formation

GOOD: someone important is being flown into town


Desert Camo Huey

GOOD: daily coast border patrol

Desert Camo Huey flying 1m from water

GOOD & BAD- Suspicious my husband SCUBA'd in from a neighboring country... one day the border patrol decided to inspect/scare him by flying so close to the water that when my husband surfaced he could tell the pilots rank and eye color {this really happened}

Huey

Osprey VTOL crazy space age flying things

GOOD - troops doing joint exercises with friends

Osprey

Small Regional Jet

GOOD - local scheduled airline flight

Embraer

Boeing 727

GOOD - local airline flight, when regular plane (see above) is broken

Boeing 727

Old Russian-looking propeller plane
GOOD {Scary}: Charter flights from strange locations that haven't yet seemed to catch on to the whole 'jet propulsion' phenomenon.

Old propeller aircraft

Drone, slow flying almost model airplane looking thing

GOOD {and, um, not so good) - Either our neighbors are spying on us, or someone is doing joint training with friends again and watching our son and his classmates at school while they draw pictures of the circling sci-fi looking drone surveillance aircraft {yes, this really happened}.

Drone

Black, small fast helicopter flying just above satellite dish altitude

BAD- Looking for/trying to scare/intimidate suspicious things/person/people who keep launching rockets our way... or it's the traffic-copter... who knows.

Helicopter

Small sport/stunt propeller planes on weekend mornings

GOOD - practicing or performing for the crowds
AWESOME - smoke tails

Stunt Planes

Searching for...

We spent an enjoyable day last weekend at the beach with some friends.

There was:

yummy food

games

cute kids

sea creatures

and nicely pedicured feet

On the way to the beach, the kid-os were really excited. My little gal was talking about all the things she was looking forward to doing at the beach. The item at the top of her list?

Searching for chicken bones.

Not sea shells.

Not pretty rocks.

Not sea creatures.

Chicken bones.

This tells me two things:

1. My little gal has not been to a clean beach in a long time.

2. My little gal knows how to find the positive side of an icky situation.

What Comes In...

We live by a very large port. One of the biggest that supplies the surrounding region.

We live by a very large highway. One of the best that goes north through the country and reaches other countries in the surrounding region.

I see a lot of strange things go by my house.

One day an entire airplane went by on flat bed semi trucks.

First, the nose.

Then some wings.

Oh look! A fuselage!

Wow! A big engine.

Another one.

And...the tail.

Yesterday, on our way home from the beach (on the highway that passes behind our house), we passed 26 flat bed semis each full of military artillery trailers and fuel tanks.

Should I be worried?

This weekend, we had to drive by the port because we heard a ship full of 10,000 Australian goats had arrived.

That was the most goats I had ever seen in one place.

Sorry I didn't take pictures. I might get shot at if I did. Some days I'm willing to risk my life for a photo opt, some days, not so much.

The port is not the only thing that entertains us though!

Last week, my hubby and I enjoyed a fabulous night out on the town. We had dinner out on the deck at the yacht club which is right at the marina.



We only had to kick one trashy cat away from our feet when our dinner came out.

There was a HUGE yacht parked in the gulf. We had heard rumors it belonged to Bill Gates.

We were enjoying our dinner when off on the horizon we saw a 'smaller' boat coming from the HUGE yacht. Mind you, this 'smaller' boat was still bigger than any of the large yachts parked in the marina. The 'smaller' boat pulled into the marina with it's nicely dressed four member crew and dropped off a man, woman, and teen aged girl. Of course everyone in the restaurant was trying to look without really looking. The ladies at the table next to us, just got up and left their food to 'take a walk' down by the 'smaller' boat. (I made sure trashy cats didn't eat their abandoned meal before they returned. I'm just that kind of person.)

I made my hubby ask the waiter if he knew who these people were. The waiter reported to us that the boat did indeed belong to Bill Gates, but Bill Gates' business partner Paul Allen and his family were using it. They were all staying in one of the big hotels in town.

Well, the next logical step for me was to text message my friend whose husband is the general manager of THAT hotel. Surely, she would give me the low down.

Confirmed: Paul Allen was in town on one of his HUGE yachts - he owns them, not Bill Gates. He and his family were staying at the King's palace here in town. Only his 30 member boat crew were staying at the hotel.

The Octopus:


The Tatoosh:


Keep buying Microsoft products.

They are spending their money wisely...at least I stay entertained!