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.