Mac Moments

Not too exciting a day, started to try to iron today. Just needed the feeling of crisp sheets when sleeping tonight, so figured out the best way of ironing a king size bed sheet, and did Steve's shirts and pants (aren't I just the bloody brilliant one! haha)..... So today not too exciting, we thought we would get our car today, but will get it tomorrow, looking forward to a spoil for my birthday. Still does not feel like it is going to be my bday tomorrow....but another year, another adventure!!! Watch this space....can't wait to go onto the dunes and do a bit of weekend exploring now.... scuba or snorkelling and visiting Barhain where Steve was born! a bit of camping at the inland sea and lots and lots of visitors!!!

Photos: Images from the roof of our villa Overall we are settling in, we cannot wait for the furniture and other amenities to arrive, so we can vacume and just do normal cleaning and have our pots and pans and plastic and linen, just the basics!!! We are also going to get the car tomorrow as Steve has his Residence Permit now which is great, the bank account is set up, so just the furniture needs to arrive. We have made some friends in the compound and the kids at least have a little one to play with. Little being 10, we are hoping to find some more friends for them!! Today was very dusty, apparently when the winds blow from Kuwait we get dust storms and it is very fine dust that settles in everywhere. The cats are not too impressed with it, but it feels a bit like the Free State, so feel at home. We also have a house cleaner who started yesterday, so the hard cleaning can at least be done by a professional and not a skimp like me. He is going to come twice a week and do the basics...

Photos: Inner City of Doha I have been off line for a while, due to lack of internet connectivity and it has taken a while to get it fixed here, but I am back. We visited some friends in the inner city on Friday and had a braai on the balcony, a very different lifestyle to where we are, but very convenient. We considered moving there for the convenience and had quite a task to decide whether to do it or not. The lifestyle would be more confined to indoors and we eventually decided that we wanted the kids to be able to jump on their bikes and scooters and do their own thing, so we are staying where we are. We are also more outdoor people anyway, so as convenient as it would be to stay in the inner city, it would not be the same. Inner city would mean, Steve could walk to work, I would have all the conveniences of gym, hair and beauty salon in the flat complex and the beach would be down the road, but no outside area for the kids to just be kids...... we can always drive to the beach,...

Drove for the first time today!! And we survived!! Yay. Not too bad, but I am sure the people here are going to get peeved with me as I drove so slowly.....isn't that funny, me drive slowly!!!

Photos: Sean holding onto that Tooth Fairy money!!! Daniel, Jess and Sean playing the fool Spent the day with Elaine and Daniel, the kids (especially Sean) was so happy to have someone to play with. WE also went to visit someone in the compound and Jess was happy there was a girl to play with, even if she is 11. So all round we have made a few more friends. When Steve got home, we dropped Elaine off and went to order our car which was fun, until we realised that Steve's drivers licence was still there, so we had to go back to fetch it, which in the traffic here can take a couple of hours!!! Anyway we eventually got home and managed to get to sleep at a decent hour.

Photo: Sean's first baby tooth gone to the Fairies So we went for our final government beaurocratic stuff today - finger printing, straight into the computer system, just like CSI!!! Very fast very efficient, it just took us 2 1/2 hours to get there....mainly because the driver had to fetch another 10 people on the way. When we got there, we found that the gove place was basically down the road from where we live!!! can you bloody believe it..... Best part of the day was when Sean lost his first tooth. It was really sweet, he has been letting it come out at it's own little pace and I kept saying I would pull it out. At dinner tonight he bites into a piece of chicken and out comes his tooth. He looked at it and burst into tears. I was so excited for him that I jumped up and kissed him and he is crying he is so upset. He basically said that he felt like he had lost a bit of himself with losing the tooth. He cried a bit and then started getting excited about it and the toot...

More pictures: All of these are of the Diplomatic Club

Photos: School (we think), view of the beach from Inter-Continental, Melting buildings, view of city the of the Carlton-Ritz Spent the weekend trying to find the kids school, then off to look for a Health club with beach facilities. We think we found the kids school, but not 100% sure, need to check with the secretary. Then we looked at the Inter-Continental health club, but it seems far too young with at least 50 single people lazing about in the swimming pool and me not sure where all the drinks were landing up!!!! Also felt like a bit of a pick up joint. So off we went to look at "The Pearl" construction. The place is enormous and very elite. Stopped at the Carlton-Ritz and saw a Lamborghini and porches, with the bay filled with unbelievable yachts and cruise boats - all privately owned..... Then off to look at the Diplomatic club, another Health Club in the area and we loved it, so we have found our health club, gym, hair salon, beauty salon, access to beach and wate...

A day ahead, here are the other photos of our place Photos: Stairs from the top, entrance hallway from the front door, kitchen, Lounge/ dining area

Photos: Our room, Jess' room, Sean's room, staircase landing and kids bathroom will put the rest on tomorrow ok so this is our Villa.... not quite like it sounds.... 3 beds upstairs, on suite bathroom and a separate bathroom for the kids. Downstairs there is a spare room, bathroom with shower, laundry behind the kitchen (which the locals use as maids rooms but they are tiny and inhumane to expect someone to live in), a kitchen, then the Lounge / Dining area which is one big room. It may sound large to some, but coming from SA with our big houses with loads of space and storage, it is really really small. I am a bit concerned about how things are going to fit in when the container arrives, it is going to be a real squash!!! Today was spent doing minimal cleaning as the hands are raw, a bit of catching up on emails and internet stuff, gyming (yay back in the gym), then waiting around for Showtime to arrive and install the local Digital TV here. 11am became 3pm, when they event...

Photo: Steve ironing, hopefully we will get a part timemaid in to do the ironing soon, Mom thanks for never teaching me how to iron!!! Cleaning began again this morning as I finished off the bits and pieces that were still not clean, like the doors and skirtings and floors (vacume, sweep, then mop). I finished at about 3pm and when Steve got home we went for a swim with the kids. It was great to get out and I promised the kids that would be the last of the marathon cleaning days. While at the pool, Steve chatte to the care taker and he is going to organise us a maid for 1 day a week to clean and iron. Yay for small mercies, I think I can cope with the cooking and daily cleaning. At least then I can do other work and concentrate on getting the kids back into a routine and a bit of homework each day. Oh we also found out that the school's new premises are bloody miles away from where we live, welcome back to spending my days driving or alternatively if the school bus system is go...

Photo: Kids chiling on our sofa bed Another not so great day. We started to clean but were being picked up to get our eyes tested for our driver's licenses so we could not really get stuck in. The driver eventually arrived and off we went to, probably the worst government I have ever seen in my entire life. It was run down and disgustingly dirty, I could not believe that with all the opulence that there is here, they could not afford decent government buildings. Anyway, we both passed with flying colours and we are now waiting to get our temporary and permanent licenses, will let you know if it goes faster than SA does!! We then continued to clean the villa up for the rest of the day / night!!!! and so my latest careers begins as a glorified mother, executive domestic and maid!!! gotta laugh at that one!!!

Move day. Everything was packed and as usual we had to wait around for the driver to collect us from the hotel. With 5 huge suitcases, 3 hand luggage cases, 3 computers, new toys and another bag or two we needed a bakkie to fetch and deliver. The funniest thing was that the driver left before us and we got there before him. But as I am laughing about how quick Steve's driving is becoming he tells me that the Driver is only a driver and has gone to collect guys to help him off load. Strues bob the guy pitches with 2 helpers to help off load. Talk about a person for every job, it is like India!!! So we hit the villa with a vengence and boy oh boy was it filthy. The cleaners that were meant to clean up missed a spot or a hundred and we spent until 1am the next morning just cleaning upstairs, the bathrooms and 2 cupboards in the kitchen. Is lazy a word here I wonder!!?? Least to say I was not amused, it took me until Wednesday afternoon to finish all the cleaning up. Steve and...

Photo: The roads here and the traffic Traffic never seems to ease up here, the drivers are pretty aggressive and I am not to keen to get behind the wheel yet, but will have to soon. The added bonus is it is a left hand drive and on the right hand side of the road!!! Fun to come.... Our last day in the hotel, has been spent packing, swimming, watch videos and chilling. We are going to the villa this evening to take some more stuff from the hotel and buy the last remaining things that we need to settle in.

Photo: A typical compound complex Friday and Saturday were spent shopping our little hearts out. Steve bought a LG flat screen tv, which is super and will be mounted on the lounge wall. Sean got himself a PSP - yes we relented, everyone has one here and to be the kid out is just not cool. Jess got a Gameboy, which she is very chuffed about, it is more a baby game player, but fun none the less! Then we looked at furniture and decided to buy a coffee table which we will eventually move upstairs, but will use it downstairs as a small table (it has 4 chairs that fit under it) until we get a lounge suite and the dining table arrives. We are battling to find a decent lounge suite though,the furniture is very cheap and breakable, so it is going to take a while. We really don't have to buy very much - lounge suite, linen cupboard, some dining room table chairs and that is about it! Just have to wait for the container to arrive..... On Saturday we did the household shopping, it took the e...

Photo: Gondella Ride at Villagio Shopping Centre I am going to club all these days together because between going once to the Villagio Shopping Centre and being in the hotel, that is about all we did. The kids did get a gondella ride and ice-skated, which was fun and we just looked around to gather prices and to see what we needed to buy for the villa. I did a bit of work everyday with the kids, to keep their minds going and we swam everyday, tried out all the different restaurants, went to look to see which car we are going to buy and just relaxed!!!

Photo: The Aspire stadium Back to work for Steven on a Sunday.....it feels very weird! The kids and I spent the day in the hotel just chilling. We are all still tired so it is a great way of just catching up with sleep. The people here are very kind and love children, I feel very safe letting them do things I would never let them do back home. Like they both love the lifts and want to go up and down on their own, so I have started letting them. They run around the shopping centres and we let them go off and watch the ice-skaters on their own or with a Daniel - a friend they have met here from South Africa. So from that perspective it has been a great move.

Photo: The tower of the "Aspire" Sports centre We went to go and see our new digs today in about 50 degree heat, everyone's faces were very flushed from the heat and we felt like we were burning up. We chose our unit and then went to the shopping centre to have a look around. The one with the furniture shop in is called the Hyatt plaza and the big one is the Villagio, just down from where we live. Villagio is enormous and probably twice the size of Sandton city, yay great shopping ahead of us! It also has an ice rink which the kids were chuffed about and a lake in the middle where they can do Gondella rides.

sorry have not been into taking photos, nothing really to take of but will be getting into it again soon. We went to City Centre Shopping Centre Today, an enormous centre in town. it has about 5 floors with 2 passages on each side of a central skating area, enormous is not the word for the size of this place. Every shop you can imagine is in it, and each brand has it's own shop. We met up with one of Steve's work colleagues and chatted about where to buy things and places to go to. The kids then spent the afternoon ice skating which Sean really enjoyed!!! As Friday is the religious day here, most of the shops were closed until 4pm, then everything came alive. As much as work here starts at 7am, they tend to have late nights as well, so kids will still be swimming in the pool at 7 or 8 pm at night.

Once again just spent the day in the hotel chilling, Steve off to work. He says everything is pretty relaxed and has started the process of opening the bank account. He is getting into the processes that they use here and just catching up with the systems.

Steve's first day at work, up at some crazy hour and at work by 7am. Steve was a bit tired still from the trip and move in particular, but had a good day at work. We sat around the hotel, swimming and just chilling. At least it would be a short week for Steve. Kids are enjoying themselves, which is great as it is holiday time in SA. I am missing my family and friends.

Photo: Doha from our window Waking up in a strange land and looking out the window to a sand covered city and knowing this was home for quite some time was a bit daunting. We had to get up and get ready to be taken for blood testing and photos, etc etc by the company. The waiting then began and we were welcomed to Doha time, very similar to African time, funny enough. The driver eventually picked us up at about 3 or 4 pm, cannot quite remember now. So we waited the entire day for him to fetch us, frustrating as hell as we could have been doing stuff or at least the kids could have been swimming and not sitting in the hotel room waiting! We first went to have our photos taken for all the paper work and later medicals that we needed to have done. Then we all went for blood testing, a quick prick of the finger and 2 seconds later we all new our blood types. Jess did not like the prick and I must admit it was a bit sore. Steve is A-, I am O+, Sean is A+ and Jess is 0+, very happy tha...

30 June - saying goodbye at the airport was really hard, for someone who doesn't enjoy crying too much, I bawled my eyes out! I feel like I have left a lot of me behind and in a way I hope so, I want people to look at a picture on their walls at home or drink a bottle of wine or cup of coffee and remember me and wonder how we are and what we are doing!!! The kids were very good on the 8 hour flight, mainly because they each had their own tv's and could watch whatever they wanted to. The flight was easy and the stewards were friendly and helpful. The airport was refreshing, we were whisked through customs by our own personal consultant, no waiting in line or checking of bags etc etc. We sat and waited for everything to be done in a lovely lounge with refreshments and the kids could just chill. They were amazing, they carried (or wheeled) their own luggage and were really really good. The airport were full of men with sandles on and traditional clothing, very few woman. Eve...

Photos: What a mad rush to get everything ready to leave. It has been rather a whirlwind of getting things packed, sold or given away. Saying goodbye to my bestest of friends of which I have known so many for so many years, my heart is aching! Through all of this, I have come to realise how truley blessed I have been throughout my lifetime. To have been born into a family that loves me unconditionally (even though we all think we are judged by family and friends all the time, I can tell you this is not true) - true family and friends will always except you as you are. To have met, made friends with and stayed friends with so many wonderful, beautiful, kind hearted, special special special friends. To have shared so many memories, experiences, life changing events, good and bad days together, through laughter, tears, sunshine and rain. To hope beyond hope that they will all stay close to me and in contact and not disappear as so many people do when they leave and start a new life s...