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Anyhoo back on topic - so after work on Thursday I had some very exciting plans that superseded making a turkey dinner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

Sleepy. So Sleepy

I'm so tired. Really I am. I couldn't sleep last night. After pondering the reason for my lack of sleep all day (hey give me a break it takes longer to process things when you are running on low) I realized that there are multiple factors here.

1. stress - stress makes sleeping difficult for me. I end up staying up late replaying every possible scenario in whatever I'm stressed about. I think about what might happen, what should happen, what will probably happen and how things would be different if only.

2. worry - late at night I start to worry. I worry about anything and everything. I worry about something I said to someone 4 years ago or I worry for the kids I don't even have yet. You name it and late at night, while I'm alone in my head, I'll probably worry about it.

3. pressure - the pressure I put on my self to fall asleep or else I won't get enough sleep oddly has an adverse effect and keeps me awake. In fact this problem has lead to a new rule at night for me: after I go to bed I am no longer allowed to check the clock to see how long I have been laying awake as I have learned that checking the clock causes #3 which in turn results in #1 and then I begin to worry (#2) about 1 & 3. Oh it's a cycle.

4. Twilight - this could very well be a cause of my inability to sleep. At least lately. These books are just so dang hard to put down and I end up reading 100 pages when I only meant to finish the chapter I was on. Plus the reason I love to read right before bed is that it puts me to sleep but these Twilight books just wake me all up and suck me in to them. It's like watching the 90210 The New Class (i admit to nothing) You know you are probably too old but the drama of it all just sucks you in and you HAVE to watch (er oops i meant read) more because you NEED to know what happens to everyone. I have been trying to share this obsession i mean good book series with my friends so that I don't feel alone in my addiction. But if they ask I did it so that they could enjoy a great book. My plan worked of course all you have to do is check out Sydney's blog to see how easily the obsession spreads.

So if you are looking for a good book and don't have problems with sleeping like I do, then I say check out the books. Join the obsession. You know you're curious.

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.

Wonderful Weekend

This has been a fantastic weekend.

Thursday I received these:

They are the latest 3 books in the Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer. Twilight was a great book and I'm anxious to see how the story unfolds from here. So anxious in fact that I could wait for every sold out bookstore in UAE to restock... nope I ordered these from Amazon. Seriously I HAVE to know what happens.

Thursday evening I spent with my friend, Ashley, (don't worry, I'm slowly talking her into the knitting!)... It was great! We had dinner, she showed me around her AMAZING apartment and we basically had a great time just talking girl talk.

Friday my husband took me out on a date to dinner and a movie in Abu Dhabi. We went and saw "Yes Man" with Jim Carry in it and the BIG Red Bull scene... That scene was definitely a hit with the hubby and the movie was hilarious. I recommend it to anyone. Then he took me to Benihana at Rotana Beach Resort. All I can say is YUM! For the first time I finally talked him in to sitting at one of the cooking stations for the show and we had a great time!

Today was spent with my new books and knitting. I mostly spent my time on the Noro Striped Scarf. This pattern (like everyone says) is completely addictive. I just keep thinking OK one more stripe and I'll put it down but then you just cant wait to see what color combinations come out next! I really love this scarf... but my husband called dibs so I guess I have to share it with him...


And just in case you are wondering: Princess would rather sit in a wet bathtub than have to face the vacuum cleaner



look at that face!