Moving

I've hesitated to post about or even talk about our upcoming move because it has been such a roller coaster ride. Even now, two days before our planned move, I'm afraid that it isn't really going to happen. While I'd love to unload all of my frustrations now, I don't think it is wise to vent in such a public way. So, suffice it to say that it's been rough.

Now, let me tell you about our new place. I've been wanting to post about this forever and now that it looks like we really will be going there, I finally feel like I can talk about it. We are going to be moving to an apartment/hotel complex. It's called the Ezdan.

Let's start with externals. The buildings themselves are really cool. They look like upside down U's. Follow the link above to see an artist's rendering because they're really hard to describe. There is an outdoor swimming pool with two hot tubs. As well as a parking garage with plenty of spots for everyone in the building. When you walk into the lobby, you will immediately notice the beautiful floral arrangements. Then, you are greeted by a concierge staff. Also included are many hotel services such as spa, salon, fitness center, mini shop, restaurant, coffee shop, biweekly cleaning, and, my favorite part, a kids' club with trained nannies.

As far as the actual apartments, I plan to post more when I can show you pictures, but what I'm most looking forward to is the kitchen/dining room/living room. They are all one big room. I'll finally be able to get work done in the kitchen while the babies play without having to go into a different room and worry about every little noise they make. Maybe Brad will actually come home to some good meals for once instead of whatever I can throw together after the twins go to bed! Yay!

I gotta start packing....

Our Trip to Dubai

Rather than repeat myself, I decided to just post my scrapbook pages from last weekend. If you can't read the journalling, you can click on the page and it will come up larger.




Sorry for the silence the past week, both on here and on the phone. Obviously, we were in Dubai last weekend, from Sunday to Tuesday. While we were there, the twins and I got terrible colds. That's why I haven't called; I have no voice. Also, our Internet has been down for the past couple days and today it's touch and go. So, that's why I haven't emailed or posted on here. Hopefully, we (and the Internet) will feel better soon!

On my soap box

This is the laundry detergent that I use here in Doha. It has the ever-important frontload emblem on the front, which lets me know that it won't cause my washer/dryer to leak into the electrical panel thereby shorting the circuits in half the apartment. I know this from experience, but that's another story. Take a look at the slogan. "Dirt is Good." I'm inclined to believe, as I'm sure is the dirty little soccer players mother, that dirt is, in fact, bad, especially when it comes to clothes. Now, this particular brand of detergent is made in the United Arab Emerites, so one could assume that the original slogan was written in Arabic. I, for one, would like to believe that their advertising executives were not so silly as to advertise for the "enemy," but that the translation is a little off. As everyone knows, words in foreign languages don't always correspond to their length in English, so I like to think that the slogan on the Arabic side of the box reads this way: "Dirt gets your clothes dirty. Then you have to use our product, which means that we make money. Dirt is good."

Happy Valentine's Day!

An amazing week

I am on such a high right now. I feel like I've been shopping and got some really great deals, except I haven't even been to the mall since last week. :) So, if you remember, last Thursday, my new friend Laura came over with her daughter, and she gave me some info about her playgroup and Bible study. Well, yesterday, we went to the playgroup. There were 4 other ladies there, along with their toddlers and a baby. The twins were really good, and I enjoyed being around other moms. Don't get me wrong, Brad's coworkers are nice, but they are men, with one exception. I plan to go back as often as I can. (They meet once a week.)

Today, I went to the ladies' Bible study at the nondenominational church. They meet in a large villa. Other than that, it felt so much like my moms' group at Woodmen Valley! I dropped the babies off at the nursery, and enjoyed 3 hours of adult interaction. I'm bad at estimating, but I would guess that there were about 50 ladies there. We met first all together, sang a praise song, had announcements, and prayed. Then, we broke into small groups. I'm in a group studying the Patriarchs. (Some of the groups are studying a book about marriage.) The study I'm in is a Beth Moore study. Even without having the homework done, I could tell that I'm really going to enjoy the study and my group. Then, the groups doing the same study got back together to watch the video. I had almost forgotten how powerful Beth Moore's studies are. She was talking this week about God testing Abraham, and I was reminded that God has a plan for me. I prayed about Brad moving here, but I forgot to pray about me moving here. I thought it was all my idea, but now I see that God has a purpose, even if that purpose is only to draw myself closer to Him through the separation from family and friends. Typing that, I ask myself, why do I say, "even if," as if that isn't the highest calling? I admit here, in public, so to speak, that in my focusing on the everyday here, I have neglected the eternal. I did not realize just how thirsty I was, until I had a drink of the quenching Holy Spirit today, and I find myself thirsting even more. May I never know another day without the knowledge of my need for Him and without coming to Him to find the Living Water that sustains me!

A park!

The weather has been really nice the last couple days. I know, I know, it's been nice for the last couple months by most people's standards, but I like it to be between 70-75 degrees if I'm being really picky, and that's what it's been. So, yesterday I suggested that we go to a park. This is how the conversation went:

Me: "Let's go to the park. It's so nice out. I'd like to let the babies run around a little."

Brad: "I'd rather take a nap. Besides, there are no parks here."

Me: "I thought I saw a park on the Corniche. Well, let's go find some grass anyway."

Brad: "There's no park on the Corniche."

Me: "Yes there is. I saw one."

This is where the conversation disolves into the "yes there is"/"no there isn't" spiral.

So, today the babies and I took a drive out to the Corniche. (The Corniche is the only pretty street in Doha. Think Chicago's Lake Shore Drive with palm trees.) And, guess who was right? Me!

This is a picture of the playground. I didn't take a picture up close because there were so many women in traditional dress there and I didn't want to offend. But, it's got about 5 different structures.

This pool/canal ran through the middle of the whole park. It looked like it was only a couple feet deep. I'm not sure if you can swim in it or if it's just for decoration.
We walked along the pool thingy. This was in the center. I'm not sure what the structure actually is for. It looked like offices, but they were empty and the signs were in Arabic. (We were there around 2 pm, right in the middle of the mid-day break.)
This was at the other end of the park. It's an amplitheater, I guess, although I don't know what it's used for. The brown area on the side is a waterfall. You can see a little bit of the Doha skyline in the background, but it was pretty hazy today.
Babies hanging out in their stroller. :)
Some closeups of the babies.

So, I'm glad that I was right. Brad and I will have to take the twins again soon so that we can take them out of the stroller and let them run around. :)

My spa day

Brad offered to watch the babies today so that I could do whatever I wanted. I decided that a spa day sounded perfect. So, after repeating the directions to Brad three times, I headed up to the Intercontinental Hotel. It turns out, getting there was no problem, but finding the salon was. They had the whole lobby under construction, so I had to come through another door. I was immediately turned around. I went up and down the elevators several times, trying to find a way around the construction to get to the other side. I even stopped and asked directions. Finally, a kind man came to my rescue and walked me there. I had to walk through closed doors marked construction area. Why didn't I think of that? Once I finally got there, I had a nice, relaxing time. I got my hair cut and styled (I've been needing that terribly--I hated my last haircut), I got a pedicure (oh so relaxing), and I had my eyebrows threaded. I have to say, of all the ways to get hair ripped out of your face (waxing, tweezing, threading, etc.), threading is the least painful, but still not pleasant. However, beauty is pain, or so they say when they're pulling your eyebrows out with dental floss. What made it all worth it, though, was coming home to my sweet babies. They were so happy to see their mommy and gave me lots of hugs and kisses. I am one lucky lady. :)

Making friends

A couple weeks ago, I was having trouble sleeping, so I decided to do a google search. Now, I'd been searching google for moms' groups and ladies' clubs in Doha ever since I knew that we were moving here, but I'd had little success. This particular time, I put "moms doha qatar" in the search box. The first listing that came up wasn't completely in English, but the second one was a blog by a woman living here in Qatar, My Quotidian Mysteries. Looking back, I really think God's hand was in it, because, surely, I'd put those words in before. I was so excited, I left her a comment and hoped that she didn't think that I was crazy. Luckily, she didn't and we met up yesterday. Check out her blog, if you'd like. She's a wonderful Christian lady, with a daughter just a few months older than the twins. We had a good time talking about Doha and our kids. The babies were their usual adorable selves, helping themselves to her daughter's snack, sharing their sippy cups, and giving aggressively friendly hugs. And, as if that wasn't exciting enough, Laura's blog also attracted another woman who is coming to Qatar in a month. She visited my blog through Laura's and left a very nice comment. God is so faithful to all our needs, working for our good, even through the blogosphere. :)

Toys

Buying the babies toys is a waste of money, apparently. We drink bottled water here (it's free from the base) and so we always have a few bottles sitting around. Brad used an empty one to bop the babies on the head. Now, whenever they find one, they bop themselves on the head. It's the cutest thing you've ever seen. Here are some pictures of the babies playing with their "toys." (Brad took these.)

A nice weekend

We've come up with a Friday night tradition, I think. At least we've done it three weeks in a row now, so I think it might stick. Johnny Rockets. Now, I know that some people don't care for the chain in the US. I haven't been there, but I hear that it's noisy and the food isn't great, but the one in Doha one is perfect for a Friday night out with the family. The hamburgers are delicious, they aren't skimpy on the onion rings, and the waitresses love the twins. I think next week I'll take the camera so that you all can see the stir that they create. :) Catie and Nick really love all the attention.

Well, I finally gave in and trimmed Catie's bangs myself. People (ahem, my parents, cough, cough) kept bugging me about it. I have to say, it did make a big difference and I don't think I did such a bad job. :)

While I was trimming her hair and Brad was holding her steady, the phone rang. It was our babysitter (aka Brad's coworker friend Tom) for our date night. He was sweet enough to offer to watch the babies so that we could go out for dinner and a movie. Yay! We needed a night out to ourselves. So, we went to see National Treasure 2. It was fun going to the theater here. First of all, we got fresh caramel popcorn at the concession stand. I had that finished by the time the previews were over! It was delicious! The theater seats are neat, too. They're assigned seats, and they're kind of like little loveseats with high backs (they go all the way over your head) with an armrest in the middle that you can put up if you want. It almost felt like you were in the theater by yourselves, except during quiet parts you could hear people talking a little. These people never put down their cell phones, I tell you. After the movie, which was better than the first one, by the way, we went to a Chinese restaurant. I've been craving Chinese food, but of course, when I say Chinese food, I mean the fake American Chinese food. I was so excited then, when I found spring rolls, cashew chicken, and sweet and sour chicken on the menu. And, it lived up to my expectations. Yum! We also had jasmine tea. I figured out why Chinese people sip their tea slowly--you have to use your lips as a strainer for all the tea leaves in the cup. Yuck, but the tea was fragrant and delicious.

We spent today in the apartment, just hanging out. It's nice to have slow days with Brad home. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend, too!