Iceberg!

Good day all! Sorry I missed a week posting- I was sicker than I thought and spent a lot of time on the couch nursing a head cold. But I'm back and ready to blog! I got a very early start today; there was a family dinner at my mom's for my sisters birthday. Because I am 9 hours ahead of Bamaland I had to get up a little before 4 am in order to Skype and see everyone. I got to see my mom and the rest of the family for the first time since March. I wept. Everyone looked great- my nephews, Jeremy and Jacob, are getting so big! Pam looked fabulous and Amy's smile brightened my whole day. Pam's husband, Jay, is wearing glasses now and he is still as good looking as ever- he wears the glasses, they don't wear him if you know what I mean (more of my left brained thinking!). Mom is more beautiful than ever. Ashley & Dara, my girls, were there, too and that was so cool. I was heart broken to be missing yet another family event; I feel like I'm missing so much, but I am grateful to be able to Skype and blog and still keep in touch with my family and friends. A very special thanks to my Angel, Dara, for bringing her iPad and making it possible. Because of your thoughtfulness, for a brief time the miles melted away and I was home.

Speaking of melting- So here I am in the apartment just minding my own business and I look out the window and much to my shock I see an iceberg floating in the Arabian Gulf- in June no less!! Jimmy  seriously thought I had finally gone off the deep end when he called and I told him. No, honey, really- there is an iceberg out there! OK, so it's its not a real iceberg- it's a huge pontoon like boat made to look like an iceberg. By the second day I was very curious what the heck this is all about! The community where I live, JBR, is on Facebook (who isn't!) so I got online and asked why there is an iceberg floating in the Arabian Gulf. Turns out it is part of the Coca Cola Brrr! campaign. Pepsi products are everywhere but Coke doesn't have that big a presence here. There are commercials and billboards with Omar Shariff and other local celebrities as part of the Brrr Coke is cold and refreshing campaign as well. You just never know what you will see next in Dubai! See for yourself-

First day of the iceberg. Zoomed from the balcony. No indication of what the heck this is!

Still first day. Zoomed from the balcony. Wouldn't you wonder?!

It's lit up at night! What is this all about!

Finally! Coca Cola Brrr! campaign! Pretty darn impressive! I took this from the balcony and zoomed for the pic but in person you can see it clearly and it is much larger.

I went down to the beach so I could get a pic showing the detail. It is floating within swimming distance of the beach but no one goes near it or bothers it. It is yet another example of how you just never know what may be next on The Walk!

Remember my post about the window washers? Well, they were working on the tower next to mine and I snapped a few pics.From this vantage point you get a better idea of how REALLY up high they are-



This is zoomed in big time. The Hilton is across the street.

This is still zoomed but not so much. They are on the way back to the top.The top part of the tower is a bit narrower so they are dangling about 30 feet away from the building and about 25 stories up with 20 more stories to go! That is the Hilton on the left. Like I said- I don't know how much they get paid for this but it's not enough for me!

We went to a co workers apartment for dinner Friday night. He lives on the marina side across the street so we could just walk to his apartment. I brought a homemade peach crisp- not my best effort but judging by the nearly empty dish it must have been pretty good.  Another co worker who lives in Abu Dhabi (1.5 hours away) came as well and stayed with us. We cooked out and got to socialize for a while and it was great. He had all the ingredients for Cosmo's so I played bartender all evening. We had a great time. Saturday morning the first co worker came over to our apartment and I got to make breakfast for the 3 guys while they talked business. My biscuits and gravy were a major hit! It was very cool to cook for a group again. I miss that, too.

Because I was under the weather this past week we didn't go anywhere except the grocery store so I don't have a lot to post this week. I want to thank the folks who have emailed and commented and supported my blog. Because I don't get a lot of comments I sometimes wonder if there is anyone out there in the blogashere. Turns out I have more people reading and keeping up than I thought. I am especially excited that I have a few international readers! So I'll keep posting and hope it stays fresh and entertaining enough to hold your interest and keep you checking in. Please feel free to let me know if anyone has anything in particular they want to know about.

Life in Dubai is still wonderful and beautiful. I really love it here and the lifestyle suits me. If I could just wiggle my nose and see my family and hug my beautiful girls it would be perfect. Thank you again, Angel, for making it possible to see everyone again. I miss you all very much and wish you all peace, love and happiness! J&M