travel panic mode...

i'm in travel panick mode where i have realized that i'm leaving in a matter of days!!! oh my gosh and that means i have to pack and that means i have to remember things.. like all that stuff i have collected and tucked away for "when i go back home" and now i realize i should have made a list! how am i going to remember all this stuff! i can't even remember what it is now! i just have these vauge memories of thinking "oooh i have to take this to portland with me. i know! i'll put it in this spot here (had selected obvious spot) and then i wont forget to take it with me".
now i can't remember what the stuff was or what the "obvious spot" i stuck it in might be. so i'm rummaging though my whole apartment and making a mess so that i can find... oh! that's right! a key chain! why did i want to bring this home again?

on top of that i'm suppose to remember things like clothes and how to dress for the cold... FYI it's mid 70's and i'm cold now.... i have to wear long sleeves to work and i'm one step away from wearing a jacket! but the oregoinian in me won't allow it! i can handle a little coldness :::cough::: 70's :::cough::: i use to live in the rain! we would get ice! i live in the desert and it's not one that gets cold! although i have no idea how i will survive the weather in oregon... all i know is it better rain! i haven't seen rain in 11 months! that is just not right. people need rain to be happy. i'm tired of all this sun. sun, sand and palm trees that's all i see. i want to see some clouds and rain and mountains and green trees!
i can't wait to come home

oh i'm not even going to talk about the ducks today... it took too long to get over the dissapointment : (

happy national day!

we get a three day weekend... woot woot!! i actually get a sunday off of work. this means i go to work on monday like the rest of the world. it's going to be great! it's national day on the 2nd (hence the day off) so the country is in full celebration mode. this means there are lights up everywhere in the UAE colors (green, red, white, black) and people are decorating their cars and houses in pictures of the sheikhs and other patriotic items. now when i say "decorate" i mean that they take pictures (that look like those early 90's school photos with the nifty laser/stars/sunshine backgrounds) and they have them put on every window of their car (same idea as tinting), usually this car is an 08 BMW x5 or s class merceds you know one of the local's cheaper cars because we wouldn't want to mess up the really nice ones unless something really special happened (like winning the gulf cup in football... but that's another story). also there will be many shows, parties and shopping to celebrate what i believe is 36 years of independence. in fact soon will be the dubai shopping festival that is the greatest shopping time of all! at the last shopping festival i got a coach purse for 50% off!!! i can't wait!

i'm beyond excited... it looks like we're all set to come to the states in two weeks!!! whew what a battle. there's the tickets, the visa, the time off work but it finally all came together and we will be heading home and enjoying some nice cold weather and home cooked food. and i finally get to meet the baby! she's so adorable in her pics. seriously she has to be one of the most beautiful babies ever. and my fiancé finally gets to meet all the family. yeah no pressure for him ; )

word out to my ducks.... you must win the civil war. you can loose every other game but you cannot loose to the beavers at home!

meet princess

this is our new kitten princess.... we have had her for about a month and she's growing so so fast. she use to fit in just one hand! she is a super curious cat that love to attack, string, tissues, imaginary bugs/dust/dots (i dunno what it is she thinks she's attacking) as well as attack that other kitten she always sees in the mirror. she loves to sleep under the covers and is, well, overall adorable. now all i have to do is figure out how to keep her from growing bigger... ; )

is it all over?

we (the ducks) were ranked #2 in the nation. #2! and now it looks as though it's all over... just like that... a poor guy hurts his leg and not only to we loose our chances of going to a bowl but it he lost his heisman (did i spell that right?) chances as well. :::sigh::: at least we made it this far and lets all hope that we do NOT loose to those beavers on our home turf!!! and hey it's the ducks maybe we'll come back and finish out the year with 2 more wins! rootin from the big ME out here for you!

on another note... why do men think that women find it appealing to be followed in their cars by them. i would like to set the record straight. most women find it offensive that a man would follow us in a car... roll down their windows (on the highway i might add) and start trying to get our attention. we women are not slow, or dumb, or unaware of what the men are trying to do and they should take a hint at our rolling our eye's, slowing down, or speeding us (in direct contradiction to their driving) or even the occasional rude hand gesture as a sign that we are NOT interested. this i have decided is not restricted to just one part of the world but rather is universal. men everywhere think women in their cars are just waiting to be harassed, oops sorry, i mean swept off their feet by them. i have two questions... where did they learn that this works? and if ignoring them doesn't work than what does?

sorry!

Sorry!

i know i know it's been forever! sorry! it's just hard too keep up. especially when my life is boring and i have nothing to write about. last weekend i sat in front of the computer thinking "what to write what to write?" but nothing came. i didn't want to tell you boring stuff about work and other than that i had nothing so i waited until something a little more exciting happened.

ok first i want to say that the ducks won again this last weekend! they were #5 in the country so we should move up a spot or two now... woot woot! of course the ducks start winning when i leave u of o... i just hope they can keep it up!

i went to a 2 day concert over the weekend and it was great fun. it was all kinds of music including kanye west, joss stone, madness (they were fabulous!) and mika (yeah i didn't know who he was either). it was fantastic and all of the artists put on a really great show. however one thing i did notice was that some of these artists think that they can treat people however they want. including telling security not to let anyone, touch, talk or make eye contact with them.... yeah they were that full of them selves and you know what? i'm not going to mention who these artists were but i was a bit surprised. i mean isn't it the people around you that make you famous and make everything happen? seriously? who demands that people aren't allowed to make eye contact. i was talking to security about this they were wondering about how to enforce this no eye contact policy. i told them they should just put the curtain down on the stage in front of him... hehehe.
on the other hand some artists were super nice and even went out to mingle with the crowds, take pictures and show that they appreciated the audience i.e. black violin they were so entertaining.

eid mubarak

this weekend was eid which marks the end of ramadan. it was a good month but i am looking forward to enjoying my morning cup of coffee ; )
we had a four day weekend which was very nice. we went over to the abu dhabi international film festival for the kick off party. it was a lot of fun to get all dressed up and stuff. of course what i have learned from the experience is that i can no longer have a red bull and coke at 11:30 at night and still expect to be able to fall asleep before 4am! luckly i could sleep in until 12 today to compensate but that's going to make getting up for work in the morning painful... yay for coffee!

on another note my dad has let me know that 60 minutes did an segment on dubai and it's kinda interesting. it has the segment in two parts on their site
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml
i was saving up for my own island but then i heard that they don't have running water, sewage or electricity... you have to install it all yourself and i just thought that was completely un reasonable... if you buy an island electricity should be included ; ) but rumor has it the morgan freeman has one

cats vs. dogs

you all know that i have a particular fondness for dog, poodles specifically, but because of where we live (it’s hot) and the fact that we work so much we decided that a cat (or rather kitten) was the way to go. they love the heat and they don't need to be walked all the time. anyhow we felt we were ready for the commitment and the work especially if it meant that we would have this little kitten excited to see us and be cuddled by us. now in my world of dogs this made perfcet sence but in the world of cats boy was i wrong.
cats, at least our cat, dictates the amount of time and love she will give us by the amount of food we are suckered in to giving her. she cries in this little kitten voice like she hasn't eaten in weeks and weeks until we give in and feed her (and now she is quickly becoming an over weight cat). now dogs have much the same tactic in that they will beg and beg for food however once they are full or realize there is no food coming they quickly run to your side, lay their head in your lap and fall asleep. cats when they give up on begging will try to punish you by storming off to go sleep by them selves
dogs are excited when you come home…. even if you have only been gone a matter of minutes you still get a parade and dance as soon as you open the front door. i’m pretty sure that jerry’s meow (our cat) is far from “yay! your home!” and more like "i was sleeping when you barged in here and woke me up… but now that i’m up i’m hungry!”
dogs (especially poodles) love love love to be pet and cuddled and rubbed. they even move for you so that you don’t have to move your hand around too much. if they want their sides rubbed they move to their other side and if they want their tummies rubbed (and they always do) then they roll on to their backs making the whole petting process easier on you. and they can’t get enough… even when you pet them non stop for a half hour they still look at you like “that’s all?” with their sad eyes when you stop. cats on the other hand will come to you and let you (and i do mean allow you) to pet them for a minute and then they start walking around as you are trying to pet them. if you stop then they walk back to your hand so that you are prompted to pet again. once that cat has decided that they are done with your petting of them they attempt (and at times succeed) to bite you thus informing you that you are no longer welcome to pet them.
play time is different as well. cats have claws. and while they are not always attempting to get you but rather get the string or the ball or the bug sometime your hand ends up being the innocent bystander in a surprise attack. dogs don’t have claws… at least not sharp ones.
anyhow i do like cats and i do love dogs. they are both totally cute and do totally cute things like make a huge mess and then look at you like “oops sorry!” i’m just going to need some more adjustment time for having a kitty instead of a poodle ; )

“flawless lindsay…. flawless”

as many of you know i have been working my way towards my second event which took place last week. this included about 60 people from all over the world and i handled and arranged everything from visas to hotel to the group dinners and event. during this whole time my boss made it clear that this event was to be “flawless” and now whenever i hear this word i have a pavlov’s response where my blood pressure spikes (see the psych degree paid off!). but that’s ok because the stress and hard work was totally worth it! my event was officially pronounced “flawless”! now don’t get me wrong there were problems that came up but thanks to the many people i have around me i was able to correct the problems before they were ever noticeable. i even got an award from my boss in front of everyone (only slightly embarrassing ; ) ) for my hard work. and it was great to meet the whole team from around the world. now i have faces to go with everyone's names. oh and i got to ride a camel! woot woot
so now i’m looking at all this event planning as good practice for the big wedding in the spring. anyways it has turned out to be a very good week for me with the event going well and the whole birthday thing tagged on to the end ; )

on a sadder note the ducks lost their last game and are now 4-1 :::sigh::: but we can come back from this… right?

i miss....

there are many things that I miss from portland starting with ranch dressing and double stuffed oreo. yes we do have ranch at some (very few) american restaurant chains (Fuddrukers) and we even have oreos but they just aren’t the same. they don’t taste the same. and as far as oreos go well, nothing compares to double stuffed. i miss p.f. changs and i miss the spaghetti factory oooh and olive garden…. yummm. we did finally get ramano’s macaroni grill but that was never my favorite but at least we’re getting closer.

i miss understanding what people are saying. most of the people here speak english but everyone (at least to me) has an accent. it’s hard enough to understand one accent but to constantly have to re-acclimate your self to new accents is exhausting. not to mention that even when you do understand someone just fine they often have expressions that you have no idea what they mean.... now this i realize is common in the states when you go from region to region. in fact just the other day my co-workers and i were talking about just this, and we were testing our expressions out on each other (“you look smart today” “let’s cross that bridge when we get to it” etc etc) well my co-workers (from the uk) asked me if i had some expression in the states… (sorry can’t remember the exact words) well i said “i have heard of it nobody really says it”
my other co-worker (third one) who lived in FL for a few years said “no, we say it all the time!”
i tried and tired to explain how big the US is and mind you she lived there! but she couldn’t conceive that maybe there were different expressions used in different areas. so back to my point i suppose this is a relevant problem for the states as well.

lets see… i miss normal driving where you aren’t on RED ALERT at all times. so far everything has gone well for me here, but you have to be a really defensive driver because everyone else is so aggressive! you can’t move out of the way fast enough for them… never mind that there is a car next to you that you would smash into! so they drive on the LEFT hand shoulder to go around. and they drive at like 180kph (100mph = 160kph) i miss normal cops that would pull you over for this even if you have a low number license plate, which is a sign that you have money to by a license plate, like $300,000, who buys a car plate for $300,000?

i miss the rain. it is so dusty and hot and humid right now that it’s ridiculous… i miss the rain that cleans everything and takes the dust away! i use my windshield wipers for wiping away the sand more than anything. ha! like it ever rains here. oh there is that one day in november where it will rain… and then it’s like that inch and a half of snow in portland. it brings the whole city to its knees with car accidents everywhere and flooded roads you can’t drive on.

i really miss washington square. my mall. that i know. and everyone there knows what i’m asking for when i ask for it. no blank stares or being pointed to the wrong store because they really have no idea what you are asking for. in fact in WS i don’t even have to ask… i already know where everything is! also it’s a manageable size. yes at first having one of the biggest malls (and soon the THE biggest mall) in the world is great. but then you get tired of walking back and forth when you forget something. our mall is so big it has a food court on each end! wanna know why?!? because when you eat at one you’re hungry again by the time to walk to the other one. it’s too much choice, you are never sure if you got a good deal because there are 11 other stores selling the same thing but you can’t keep comparing prices! it would take you all day! i know! who thought i would complain about a mall ever!?! but i guess even i have my limits…

most of all i miss my family and being able to call them and see them whenever i want. especially call. not just because of the cost but because of the time difference too! we’re all only awake at the same time for like 2 hrs in the morning (my morning) and 3 hrs in the evening. and if i don’t have any credit on my phone (like now) than it doesn’t matter anyways cause i can’t make a call again until i stop by the petrol (yes I know! we call gas stations petrol stations oh and bathrooms are called toilets, weird) station to buy a new phone card.

i miss you all and love you!

waiting in line

lines here are ridiculous… first of all there are no lines or ques as they like to call them. people just rush up to the front of the counter and every time the poor guy on the other side looks up they all start ordering at once. the guy must then decide who he thinks was there first and if he’s wrong, and he always is, a battle begins between two people (not necessarily the next two people) who say that they are the one’s who are next and blah blah blah.
you might think hey why don't they use those ropes like the ones at the post office? they do and they don't work... people just go around the ropes and the people at the counter will never say anything because they honestly can't afford to loose their job.
add to this the fact that people’s personal bubbles are much smaller here and you end up being very uncomfortable and upset every time you try to go get a movie ticket. i just can't figure out what the person behind me is hoping to accomplish by stepping on the backs of my feet and bumping me forward in to the person in front of me.
honestly the problem here is that everyone thinks that they are the most important person ever! whether they are driving (don't get me started on the driving) or standing in line or shopping they are the most important person out there. what’s really funny is every once in a while you see a “really” important person tangle with an actual important person only they don’t realize it. that’s the time you can see them get put back in their place. when they are reminded that they are mere mortals like the rest of us!

weekend? what weekend?

in this country there is no sense of weekend. when you start a new job the first thing people ask you is how many days do you work a week?
my usual response was "uhhh five." accompanied by my "ummm duh" face. later i realized that this is not the case for everyone. some only get one day off a week and others get a day and a half. this is in the form of either getting all of friday and half of saturday off or getting every friday and every other saturday off.
add to this the fact that the rest of the world gets saturday and sunday off and you have really frustrating weekends where you end up dealing with phone calls and e-mails of people trying to conduct business. when you inform the person on the other end of the phone that you are not at work because it's the weekend they act all surprised like "what do you mean you don't work every hour of everyday"
you end up in this endless cycle where it's easier to handle it at that moment then to let it wait or there's some saturday (a day everyone in the world should have off. no?) emergency of some sorts and the whole world will fall apart if you do not handle it right now!
really there's no way to fix the whole weekend situation because the more you get bugged on your weekend the more you start bugging others on theirs (in order to fix the saturday emergencies)... the more people bug each other and the more it seems ok. so really we need a new weekends rule. i think we need to take back our weekends and relax so that we can enjoy our time off to get all those things done that we otherwise don't have time to do.
lucky for me my boss likes his weekends so he never bugs me on mine, but those hotels...

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btw the ducks are doing awesome this year (2-0).... so far! lets see how they do today!

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Ramadan Kareem everyone!

Whew... It's over

my first every event is now over! and it went well, if i do say so my self. everyone got to where they were suppose to be and no one was left behind! the agenda stayed relatively on schedule and people liked the food at the dinners. of course there were a few problems (which i anticipated) but the key was to fix them before anyone noticed they were real problems. i.e. last minute i found out we had a birthday in the group. thankfully i called the hotel and ta dah cake to be delivered with singing waiters at dinner. it was great. the sailing went off with out a hitch. it was so much fun but my team lost... what to do... we were still able to work on our team building skills and have a ton of fun at the same time. as soon as I get pics i'll figure out how to post them here.
but I gotta tell you this whole event planning thing is very exhausting... i came home yesterday and slept 12 hrs, woke up then took a nap. today has been nothing but pampering. i woke up late and then went shopping! i know! it doesn't get much better than that. now i'm back home lounging and drinking my starbucks. maybe for dinner i'll order pizza...

Down to the wire

Ok so I'm down to the wire on my first ever event that I have planned for work. Whew. My mind is going like a million miles a minute trying to think if I forgot anything or to make sure I got everything done. It really is just like finals.... work work work then hold your breath and prey you get a passing grade! I think I have gone through all scenarios and remembered everything. Although there were a few times last week that people with much more experience in this than I have asked me a few questions such as "Where will they set up lunch." My response: Blank glazed over look. hmmm ok well I quickly ran down stairs and covered that. This happened a few times over the last few days. Then there were the expected problems i.e. peoples changes in travel, delivering things to the hotel, boss changing his mind etc.
Also I’m in the middle of planning the next event! Trying to keep them straight is a lot of fun... My phone rings and it's a restaurant. "Hi Lindsay, I'm calling from (insert restaurant and hotel name here) and I was wondering if you were still interested in using our restaurant for the dinner your planning?"
I'm planning four at the moment so I reply "for when?"
"This is Lindsay right?"
"Yes but I need to know when the dinner you are referring to is?" see you never tell them you are planning multiple events and dinners otherwise they start bugging you for more business.
"Oh, well it's for the 3rd"
"The 3rd? Nope, I decided to go with another restaurant"
"Oh really? How come?"
Honestly at this point I'm excited if I even remember which restaurant it is that is calling me so I say the general. "I found another restaurant that could accommodate our needs better, but I'll be sure to keep you guys in mind the next time I’m planning a dinner. Thank you!"
This conversation must have happened at least 4 times
Oh well I suppose this is the nature of what I do. They go crazy for the business and I'm in the awkward position of turning them down nicely so that if I ever do want to use them they wont sabotage the event.

So I'll keep you all posted on how the next week goes! Keep your fingers crossed that I thought of everything!

Baby baby baby

my niece Frieda was born on the 24th! Yay!!! i'm very excited and am counting the days until december when i get to see her and meet her in person for the very first time. rumor has it that she's quite adorable... and i'm sure she is. she also seems to be dominating her parent's lives already! sounds like she's a bit like her auntie lindsay hehehe. her mom should be weary of leaving her alone with me for too long cause then i'll teach her all my tricks ; )
but i'm way proud of my big sis and her husband. they have already dealt better than i coulda with frieda's surprises. honestly though i can't wait to keep hearing about all the fun she'll put them through. that's the beauty of being the youngest... i get to watch everyone else do it first! driving, college, job hunting, marriage, babies... i get to watch them and then reap the benefits of their advice.

HI All

hmmm... well i figured i would try this out cause it seems i have lots of news or things to say and i end up sending everyone a seprate e-mail. and then i have to try to remember who i have e-mailed. so this is my new and improved way of getting the word out.

but unfortunately it took me so long to think of a name for my blog that it is now way past my bedtime and i must sleep... whew... thinking up these names is quite the commitment.

there will definitely be news to follow.... tomorrow maybe? hey, i'm not co-president of the procrastinators committee for nothing!