Mac Moments

A bit late I know, and very few posts this year.  Better late than never though :) A belated Merry Christmas to all our Christian friends and we hope everyone has had a wonderful festive season and restful holiday. Creative Commons This year saw us landing back on the 4th of January to a very empty Johannesburg, where our wonderful friends Aline and Rohan graciously picked us up from the Airport with 6 suitcases, 4 hand luggage bags as well as our laptops and an enormous box to see us through the next couple of months until our container arrived from the Middle East. It was great to be home and to know that my friend was just down the road again!! We had to say goodbye to the many friends we had made in Doha, and it was more difficult than I imagined it would be. We have made so many friends from around the world and each farewell lunch, dinner or party we went to left us feeling that little more empty inside but with a reality that being an expat is a life changing expe...

James has been a part of our family now for many years. We love James, we talk about him often and listen to his music all the time. He is not understandably everyone's cup of tea, he's not exactly Bond (who of us are perfect anyway) but that raspy voice makes him a necessary habit in the evenings.  His name is Blunt,  James Blunt . James initially joined our family after his first album, it was played consistently over the next couple of weeks and sung endlessly in the shower or car.  Six months later Sean was invited to his first birthday party in Grade 0, with much excitement he joined in with all the party games and festivities. During the party a DJ was playing music and to Steve's amazement, Sean assertively marched onto the stage, took hold of the mic and proceeded to belt out "You're Beautiful". One of those times where the handy camera would have come in handy if it were on hand :-( Astonishment sounded throughout the attending parents and the wh...

January was a flutter of activity for us, we were flung back into the swing of routine far too quickly and the running around began once again.  New Years resolutions were left spinning in confusion and life proceeded between rushing from work to children duties all over again.  That is Federer on the left Two realisations struck me, or was it that tennis ball to the head!  Winter is the most amazing time in  Qatar  and you actually don't want to stop to take a breath, just in case you miss out!  This month saw us going to the Qatar ExxonMobil Men's Open Tennis Champs, The Vienna Boy's Choir, a UK Boarding School Seminar, Qatar International Falcon Competition, the Qatar Motor Show, lunches with friends and heading off to Abu Dhabi to  Ferrari World  for a weekend to celebrate Steve's birthday.   Ferrari World Happy Birthday my wonderful husband, who continues to spoil his family every day wit...

Definitely not a dull time to be had in Qatar for these two months, we were kept on our toes dancing between sport events, school events and social events..... Brilliant start to the year with a tennis final between my two favs Federer and Nadal, over the moon that Federer won! We then got to watch the Asian Cup Soccer Finals between Australia and Japan, we supported OZ Jess and Sean began their stint at the Qatar Music Academy with their teachers Ay and Ozgar on piano and Islam and Georges below on violin.  Sean went on to complete his 5 month course, with piano and violin recitals and a final concert in June. Being taught by some of the best musicians in the world, who perform in the orchestras who perform in Vienna and Berlin during this music festival season. Jess decided that this was not for her and has continued with her gymnastics instead. Islam                            Ozgar I was invi...

Photo: Qatar skyline Missing Steven, it is strange how you can get so used to someone being around and when they are gone you realise what a huge part of your life they are!! The kids are missing him as well.... interesting to watch how they process how long he is still going to be gone for! I am going to post pictures when Steven gets back as he has the camera and is taking copious amounts of pictures of Qatar. He says the place is amazing. It has a similar skyline to Joburg and his developing at a rapid rate. The complexes are going up at a rate of knots and driving around is mahem. The roads have 4 lanes on each side and the people drive like maniacs (everyone drives on the wrong side of the road btw!!! Wrong being on the right and not on the left - something I am going to have to retrain my brain to do). He said the Villas are all brand new (literally - no one has lived in the one we will move into if he gets the job) and the areas inside are fantastic, they have tennis and squash ...