Blur of Activities

The past 3 weeks have been a blur of activities and fun.  Really!


(It is a tough job, but someone has to do it.)

I have . . .

Cooked breakfast (bacon) for a group of engineers who have been living in Saudi Arabia.  They asked – Real bacon?  (Pork cannot be consumed in SA.)

Pork is kept in a special "dirty closet" at one grocery store. You can not buy pork anywhere else.

Hosted 3 dinner parties in our flat.

Almost every night, hosted a cocktail hour for several friends and co-workers in our flat.

Hosted an engineer from the States in our flat for 3 weeks. He is relocating here and it was great to have him stay with us.

Cooked breakfast every morning for D (hubby) and the visiting engineer.

Fixed lunches every day for D and the visiting engineer. (Kobar, SA doesn’t have a lot of lunch opportunities and they like to eat at their desks…)

Cooked healthy dinners every night for D and visiting engineer.

A cuban fish recipe from my father-in-law. Yumm.

We had a group of engineers use our flat as a meeting room for a planning session.  They took over the living room and dining room even taking pictures off the walls to create a white space for slides.

Attended a morning meeting with 250 other ladies from all over the world.

Attended a morning coffee with 100 other ladies on a man-made island on the north side of Bahrain.

Went to lunch with 30 other ladies at the Gulf Hotel (famous Bahrainian hotel) where they gave us a cooking demonstration.  That was fun!

Met the American Ambassador and his wife at two different events.

Met the Turkish Ambassador. She is an inspiring woman.

Attended a large evening reception at the Ritz Carlton.  The food was amazing!

Met numerous dignitaries and celebrities at the reception.

Started taking Arabic lesson (this is a lost cause for me).

Attended a ball at the Ritz and danced to some great jazz.  WOW!

The Gatsby Ball made the papers!

Getting ready to leave for the Gatsby Ball.

I was invited to attend a company dinner with some very high level executives from the US.  You know I never pass up an opportunity to dress up!

Here we are at the company dinner.

Appetizers at the company dinner.

Desserts at the company dinner.

I worked out most mornings at 5AM with D. And, I also try to work in a session of Pilates after D leaves for work.

Whew. . . .

I am lucky.  I have a great life and I am having a WHOLE bunch of fun.

I read a blog the other day written by a mom who lives in Doha.  She said she was luckier than a lotto winner.  I would agree that the expat life is blessed.

I have almost everything I would like in life right now.  I can see down the road and know that the areas where I want more, they are coming.  I need for nothing and I have the greatest husband in the world who is also my best friend.

It is perfect? Of course not and I would not want my life to be completely perfect. 

To quote our pastor at the Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, “The good things in life are like a hot fudge sundae.  If you had to eat one every day they would not be special nor would they taste as good. “

However, right now I cannot complain. I feel like I am having hot fundge at every meal. Even the heat is giving me a break and the weather is wonderful. 

Tomorrow we are off for a holiday in Turkey. We will have some great sights, wonderful food and fun times together learning more about this area of the world.



When we come back from Turkey, I leave for the US where I will visit my youngest daughter who is expecting a baby!

I will be apart from D (my husband) for 3 weeks. This is the longest we have ever been apart since the first months we were married when he spent 6 weeks in SA on another engineering job. Life has come full circle in 34 years.

I am going to miss him terribly and I know he will miss my hot breakfasts and warm kisses.  But they will be that much better when we are together again.

D will look forward to being back together as much as I will and things could not get much better than that.

Cheers, Brenda