My adventure...

Today I went on an adventure in search of a treasure...

I woke up at the crack of 9 am. I had to see if I had received the message. The message that would alert me to begin my trek through parts unknown all in search of a mysterious treasure. I have been checking for this alert daily for weeks and for weeks there has been nothing. But this morning as I reach for my iPod I had a feeling today would be the day... and it was.

The excitement got to me right away. I leaped out of bed and put together the necessary provisions in order to guarantee my success on my mission.

After tying my shoes and locking the door I made my down stairs to head through the city. I had a 30 block hike in front of me but it was something I was confident I could do.

I walked my way through the blocks using my tried and tested routs. I made it nearly to Michigan Ave when akkk! I reach a roadblock. Literally.

Police cars, roadblocks and people littered the sidewalks and streets. And the bridge was up! "But it's not a Sunday" I thought to my self as I made my way through the crowds.

I could see my treasure slipping away as I saw that Michigan Avenue had been shut down. It was littered with burned out cars and debris from falling buildings. There were helicopters hovering overhead... the thwaping of their blades making their presence known even when they were shielded by the towering buildings.

I rounded a corner hoping that I would spot an opening in the crowd and Transformers 3 paraphernalia. Alas! Ahead on Ontario I could spot the break I had been hoping for. The road opened up again.

As I strolled towards my destination I could feel the relief of getting through the crowds be replaced by the anxiety that perhaps I had received the message in error. I stepped out of the heat and into the building only to come face to face with Nick, the Apple Specialist. I gave him the secret code (my name) and he hurried into the back room with the urgency that said he must know where my treasure was. I waited by the printers trying to distract my self from the minutes that passed and just as I was about to worry he came back out with a smile on his face, holding the little box I have longed to see for weeks. After a few more minutes of deciding just what extra fun stuffs my new treasure would need I handed over my unique identification number (credit card) and was on my way with my highly anticipated treasure in my hand...

... Making my first phone call...

... on my new iPhone 4

Eid Al Adha Mubarak!

Happy Eid Al Adha everyone!!!

Once again I'm a day late - but those who know me aren't so surprised....

Husband and I took off for Dubai Mall yesterday to go watch yet another movie and have a nice lunch together.

As we were wandering around the ginormous mall waiting for our movie to start we heard music... as most would we headed to check out what was going on.

Thats a local (meaning Emirati) dance group doing the tradition dance for everyone. They were dancing because UAE National Day is on December 2nd. They were out celebrating and showing their culture.




It was fun to watch and after about 15 minutes we headed over to the theater to watch Old Dogs with Robin Williams and John Travolta... All I will say is that I haven't laughed so hard during a movie in a LONG LONG time. I will recommend this movie to anyone. ANYONE!

Thanksgiving & Eid Al Adha Eve

Happy Thanksgiving & Eid Mubarak everyone!!!

Yeah I know I'm a little late but what to do? I was busy celebrating of course!

This year was unique in that Eid eve (I would guess it's called) was on the same day as Thanksgiving. I found this ironic in that on the eve of Eid Al Adha many Muslims choose to fast yet Thanksgiving in the states is the day of eating. The entire day revolves around our big turkey dinners - which we start eating (traditionally) around 4 pm up until we pass out from a turkey induced comma.

This year was different from the usual however because I spent the day at work. Harrumph. Because apparently Thanksgiving isn't recognized as a holiday in the UAE - what ever that means. It was also kinda weird that we worked because usually eid eve is a holiday and most companies did take the day off.... but don't feel bad for me yet! We get every day off next week except for Thursday making it a one day working week! woot woot!

Anyhoo back on topic - so after work on Thursday I had some very exciting plans that superseded making a turkey dinner

yup I had tickets to the premier of The Twilight Saga: New Moon! I was so excited! SO EXCITED! I had been waiting for this movie to come out ever since I saw Twilight a year-ish ago and finally the day had come (about 6 days after the US but what to do)

So I got home, ate (Kraft mac & cheese very traditional Thanksgiving food hehe) and got changed and we set out for the World's Largest Open Air Theater... Does Dubai do it any other way?

We found our seats and this was the screen in it's idle position - It's laying down where the bottom of the screen is at the highest position and the top is nearly on the ground


When the show was ready to begin the screen flipped up and we kicked off the movie with a laser show - which was cool but I was a bit anxious to get the movie started already!


and finally, after some introductions, laser shows and movie previews, New Moon started


It was a fantastic movie and I enjoyed it more than Twilight only because it seemed to stay truer to the book than the previous had. But then again it might have just felt that way since I had read the books so long ago they weren't all fresh in my memory. But it was a great way to spend a nice Thanksgiving evening / Al Adha Eve with my husband.

And in true Thanksgiving fashion here are 10 things I am thankful for

1. My Husband - I still like him and intend to keep him a long long time
2. My family - I truly have a great family who is accepting of all my choices in life
3. My health - this is something I forget is so important sometimes
4. My friends - both here and back home I have some great friends that I am so happy to have in my life
5. The next step - Husband and I are about to start an adventure (which I will detail soon enough) and I'm grateful for the opportunity
6. My yarn - It really makes me happy (especially when I have had a hard day) to go through my stash and cuddle my yarn
7. My education - not something I ever thought I would be so grateful for but every day I am reminded how important it is in my life and what a change it has made in the way I work through things
8. Did I say my husband yet? cause he's a pretty great guy
9. Gravy - both literally and metaphorically
10 . Internet - Helps me stay connected with my family while I'm living so far away and helps me blab on and on about what I'm thankful for

Hope you all have a fantastic holiday season what ever holidays you choose to celebrate!

No Knitting Day

Today has been a no knitting day. In fact out side of Monday, this has been a no knitting week. I have just been to tired by the time I get home to pick up my knitting. My two projects just stare at me accusingly for spending yet another night with something to do besides knitting.

Today I woke up late and then read some Breaking Dawn (the 4th book in the Twilight series) which is better than the last three if you can believe that. Then we got ready and headed for the big city eerr well Abu Dhabi that is.

On our way there I saw this

It's a building that is in the shape of a dot. Why you might ask? Because they can.

The weather right now is beautiful so we have decided to enjoy it as much as possible so we headed for the beach!

And just to let everyone who is still dealing with the winter climates know.... It was 95 degrees here today (thats 37 C). It looks like winter and spring are over and we are now heading into summer in full force. I know I know it's mean to rub it in but just remember that soon it will be so hot that we wont be able to breath with 110 F (42 C) 100% humidity

After the beach we went and saw Slumdog Millionare. It was a great movie and I can see why it won all the awards. I'm not going to tell you anything about it cause I think everyone should go enjoy it for them selves but I found it really thought provoking. Not only that but it shed a lot of light on what a big population in the UAE might have left behind when they moved here.

movies

i have noticed an ongoing battle here (in the United Arab Emirates) when it comes to movies... i have realized over the last several movies that i often leave upset and sometimes even offended. it makes me often wonder why i even bother to pay all that money to go to a movie when i'm just going to end up in a bad mood.

last night we went and saw "Journey To The Center Of The Earth" at Marina Mall and i went in with the understanding that this was a kids movie and that kids are going to do kid things. but there were four kids sitting in the front row screaming, talking and even running around during the ENTIRE movie! when we finally left, that is when i realized that their parents/caretakers/torture givers had sat their kids in the movie and then left! just left them there for an entire theater of people to deal with for nearly two hours!

we saw "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" at Abu Dhabi Mall a few weeks ago and the lady next to me sat and talked on her phone. not only did her phone ring out loud but she answered it! and not in a hushed "i'm in a movie and will call you back way" no she had an entire conversation. out loud. normal voice. of course she also stepped on my foot as she was getting in to her seat and didn't say excuse me either, so obviously she wasn't too concerned with the people around her.

now i know these (rude people who have no idea that their actions effect others) people exist all over the world and not just here in Abu Dhabi but it seems excessive here. every time we try to go to a movie we run into people like this who think they are in their own living rooms and do not take in to consideration the people around them. i cant figure out if it's the culture or if people are just so selfish that they don't care that they are ruining someone else's experience.

:::sigh::: i suppose this won't stop me from going to the movies because some movies are just so much better n a big screen with popcorn and a coke but i won't stop complaining about the dumb people! thats for sure!