Happy Birthday to ME!

Today is my birthday and it is so bittersweet. I've always loved b'days and enjoyed celebrating mine and my families through the years. This year is different because my family isn't here to make wise cracks about me getting old- never thought I would miss that! But I did speak with each of my lovely daughters and will Skype with my mom later today. I'll take them however I can get them, even if it is only over an Internet connection, and be grateful. My sweet Jimmy got me exactly what I wanted for my b'day- a metal detector! Yeah, I'm a nerd. I look out the window at the beach everyday and I believe there is buried treasure just waiting to be found! OK, maybe that is a bit much but seriously how can there not be at least something?! I need a hobby and this sounds as good as any. It's a very nice detector that senses if a found item is a bottle cap or coin or jewelry before you even dig up. I can't wait to try it out! Metal detecting is legal here but you must be on public property and are likely to draw some attention because it is very uncommon. Wish me luck!!


I've had several people ask me to post pics of me wearing my abaya.

I know its not flattering- I'm really not THAT big! Abaya's are supposed to be very loose so as not to reveal the female form. Notice the cuffs- they are really unique.

Very comfortable. I'm usually freezing in conference rooms and other peoples offices but this keeps me warm with being hot.

Gotcha' the crab is doing very well. Jimmy went to a pet store in Abu Dhabi and bought him a real "crabitat". We go to the beach every weekend and get fresh wet sand and plenty of fresh salt water. We throw out the old sand and water and put in the new. I believe there is plankton and stuff in the sand and water he needs to survive. Jimmy also bought him "crablets"- crab food tablets to make sure he has a balanced diet. We must be doing something right because he is thriving. He also seems to e getting used to us because he doesn't curl up into his shell everytime we approach his crabitat; sometimes but not always. Here are some pics-

Jimmy getting Gotcha'. This pic was taken before we did his weekly housekeeping.

The sand and the water are deeper now.

Jimmy picked him up completely out of the water and he didn't hide in his shell!  Jimmy does have a way with animals I just didn't know it extended to crustaceans!

I told you all in my last post about Covenant Garden; the vendors that set up booths in our area of The Walk. There are approximately 50-60 individual booths selling a wide variety of items. Here are some pics-

 This is the water fountain located immediately when you exit the parking garage from where we live onto The Walk. You can see there are lots of people milling about and stopping for a moment to enjoy the fountain with thier children or catch up on emails! There are many, many water fountains and water features all along The Walk.

One of the vendor booths displaying colorful and unique dresses.

Jewelry booth.

Random shot of another jewelry booth. I think the booth in the background had masks on display.

Looking at the area where some of the vendors are set up. Lots of people enjoying the mild temperatures and wandering among the booths.

Long dresses, short dresses and tops. It has been really windy the past several days as you can see by the dresses billowing in the breeze.

This pic is for my mom-she loves all things Egyptian! This booth has Egyptian style items for sale. Alot of the items are very good quality, handmade and imported so it is not all "flea market" tourist trap type stuff.

More jewelry and other items- not sure of the country of origin for this booth.

This is a ground level open type fountain in front of the main entrance of the Sofitel. The water randomly shoots upwards from the spigots. As you can see this is a favorite with the children!

Did you notice the car in the background from the last pic? This is a Rolls Royce parked in front of the main entrance of the Sofitel. It was totally loaded, and I mean LOADED, and a convertable! Probably about $500k USD.

Another cool water feature!

Just a little further down and there is another fountain!

This water feature is in front of the main entrance of the Rountana hotel. Water flows in from the fountains at either end and sprays upwards from the spigots in the center.

Last water feature for this post. This a large fountain located in a roundabout along The Walk. It is lit up at night and is especially beautiful because of the discoloration of the metal it is made from due to weathering.

Walking back towards the Covenant Garden area and this Ferrari caught my eye. Hot cars are seen quite often on The Walk, especially cruising after dark. This young man didn't wait for sundown to show off his cool ride and who could blame him! He was actually driving past when he saw I was trying to take his pic and stopped for the photo op.

Passing back through Covenant Garden I couldn't resist this shot of these sky high heels in every color and pattern you can imagine. The red one on the left is sequined. Not exactly the ruby red slippers Dorothy wore in Wizard of Oz but she could have busted a move along the yellow brick road wearing those! Munchkins beware!

So we are almost done taking pics and enjoying a lovely evening on The Walk when Jimmy sees something. In the vase is a beta fish and the plant suspended in a basket at the opening is a bonsai. So now we have two pets! Yes, the vendors are wearing Mickey Mouse ears and a Minnie Mouse bow but they weren't selling anything Disney. It just makes them friendly and approachable and standout from the other vendors. They loved it when I asked for them to be in the pic!

This is our beta fish Cosmo! Jimmy and both grew up with pets and love animals and miss the pets we left behind in Bama. We aren't allowed to have "real" pets like a cat or dog in our apartment so we have to think outside the fur! It is good to have other living things around you so we have a couple of small contained "pets" and a few plants. It's things like that that make a house a home.

Jimmy just got home from work (late meeting) and brought me flowers! Fresh flowers are kind of expensive here so this is a real treat. He does spoil me so! The card was sweet and made me cry...again. I've wept on and off throughout the day because of missing my family so much on a special day. One minute I'm happy as a crab (haha!) and the next I'm sniveling like a school girl. It's not easy being a girl!! Jimmy knows this and dries my tears and makes me smile again. I'm so very lucky to have such a great guy!

Can't wait to Skype with my mom in just a few hours! Much love to every one. You know I miss you and love you. Thanks for all of your support and love.

M&J

PS In case you were wondering and manged to get through this whole post- I'm 49 today.

Gotcha'!!

Hello all! Wow what a difference a couple of weeks makes! The weather has cooled to the low 90's during the day and the water in the Gulf has cooled considerably. During the week the beach is pretty busy and it is packed on the weekends. We usually go right when we get home from work at about 3 pm and stay about an hour. We are early risers even on the weekends so we get down there before the crowds get too thick. Last week the waves were pretty rough. One hit me and knocked me backwards off my feet. I crashed into Jimmy and almost took him down with me. Kids were crying and intimidated by the strong tide coming in. Today is perfect! The water is calm and crystal clear and the the tide is way out allowing for lots of shallow areas for the little ones to splash and play in. We were surrounded by families and not one child cried or was unhappy at all. Because it was early it wasn't too hot and there was a lovely breeze. Heaven on earth! There's lots of activity as well. There is a seasonal event called Covenant Garden that takes place on The Walk. It consists of lots of vendors booths set up Wed. - Sat. selling all kinds of items to the tourists. You can buy shoes, dresses, jewelry, childrens toys and lots of trinkets. I'm posting pics today I took from the bedroom window looking down at the set up but I will post pics of the action up close and personal tomorrow. There is also a staging area being erected on the beach. The Walk has a presence on Facebook and I asked if anyone could tell me what is going on but no news yet. It appears to have four rather large stadium type seating areas facing a center stage and two smaller ones for a different stage. Its still being constructed but I'll keep you all posted. As a side note Janet Jackson performed in Abu Dhabi last night and Kim Kardashian is in Dubai. We didn't go to Janet but there are lots of concerts coming up and we are looking forward to seeing some good acts.

Jimmy and I were enjoying the beach this morning frolicking (me anyway!) in the water and we found a crab! I stayed in the water and followed the crab while Jimmy went to our beach site to get his underwater eyeballs (goggles!). He came back and caught the crab. Jimmy named him Gotcha' and we brought him home with us. We even brought home sand and water from the beach so he wouldn't go into shock or freak out. Jimmy Googled info about crabs and feels confident we can give him a good home and care for him properly. We went to the mall and bought everything we need to make him a nice home. He lives on the balcony in his own little habitat and seems to be OK. We gave him turtle food- dried shrimp so he will be eating well. I keep going to the door and checking on him. He goes up on the beach area we made and then into the water so I guess he is getting acclimated to his new environment. He's moving around and I take that as a good sign.

Remember last post I told you we found breakfast sausage? This is our lovely breakfast on the balcony featuring sausage, eggs, biscuits and gravy. Don't you just love the paper doily place mats?! They add a touch of elegance to our meals!

Gotcha' in his temporary home until we bought him a bigger habitat.

Close up of Gotcha' in his new home. Those two bumps along the top of his shell are his eyes poking out .

Gotcha' in his new home. We made a beach so he can get out of the water and he has water so he can swim around too.

We bought a small table to set his habitat on. He is right outside the door but out of the way so he won't get bumped or knocked over. He is also not in direct sunlight so he won't fry.

Staging area being erected on the beach. You can also see there are alot of cars in the public parking lot and all those spots near the water are people.

Taken from the bedroom window- more of the staging area and you can see there isn't a parking space to be found! This is less than half of the parking area for the beach and every space is taken and cars are circling like vultures for a space to open up. It is almost 6 pm here right now and it is crazy busy!

Taken from the bedroom window looking down on The Walk. All those umbrellas are the booths the vendors set up for Covenant Garden. This is less than half of the whole set up.

Again from the bedroom window- more vendors booths. So much to do and see on The Walk!

I want to give a shout out to my neighbor and financial advisor Kyle. So glad to know you are checking out the blog. Thanks for the email and we will stay in touch for sure. A big hello to Shae- you are a beautiful pregnant lady! Bob, Judy and my other friends who have sent Jimmy & I messages- we miss you all and can't wait to see you at Christmas.

As always- much love to my beautiful girls Ashley, Dara & Tara. I miss you like the dessert misses the rain (haha). Tara- tell John I said Ahalan - Pronounciation: Ah-Ha -Lahn (hello). Mom, Pam & Amy- Miss you so so very much. Christmas is coming!

To all my readers - salam alakom (peace be upon you)!

Peace, love and happiness to all-

M&J