Everything Old is New Again

All of our "stuff" arrived last Saturday. It was such a relief to see my things again. It was also an overwhelming feeling. Where would I put everything? Why did I bring that? How am I (Scott) going to get this to work over here? It's taken a full week but everything has its place. Many things were re-packed & put in our storage room on the roof. As I was unpacking my clothes & shoes and was trying to find a place for everything, I realized just how much stuff I have. Now, before leaving that horrible place....Memphis.....I gave away all the stuff I no longer wore. I gave away quite a bit. I only brought to Bahrain the clothes that I actually still wear. I will no longer complain that I have nothing to wear. I have enough stuff to last me forever. The funny thing is that as I was putting a lot of the stuff away, I was so excited to see it again, it was as if it was brand new. Our home feels like a home now. It's warm & cozy!! I just baked my first batch of cookies yesterday. We are eagerly awaiting visitors....we have a couple friends coming in January but would love others to come whenever you can.

Scott left for Virginia the evening of our stuff being delivered. That left me to unpack 90% of the stuff (the other 10% was his). It was a strange feeling being alone in a foreign country. Fortunately, we have many friends here who would help me if necessary & I speak the language. The unpacking & organizing kept me very busy & left me exhausted. I also kept busy a couple of days by volunteering. We stuffed a couple thousand stockings for the single troops. We'll be secretly delivering them late Christmas Eve so that when the young men & women wake-up Christmas morning they'll find a stocking at their door. It was a lot of fun & there was a huge turn-out of volunteers. This will be my very first Christmas away from my family on Christmas. Keeping busy has kept my mind off of this fact. Scott & I will be going to some friends on Christmas Eve & then will be going to brunch at the Gulf Hotel on Christmas day. We feel very lucky to have made a reservation last month for brunch. It's been sold out for a while. I'm definitely looking forward to the food!!!!! We will really miss the food we've been devouring here when we leave. We're always on the look-out for a new place. Our favorites seem to be the little hole-in-the-walls. Such authenticly good food and the people are so happy to have us there as their guests.

It has been raining like crazy over here, which is unusual. The roads are not built to withstand so much water. They do not have a drainage system, so the water just accumulates. You would think that the flooded streets would calm people's driving. Nope. They drive like maniacs in the rain as well. I got splashed so hard driving the other day that I thought I was driving through a muddy car wash. Our car just had mud caked on it. All over. Everytime I would get into and out of the car I would get filthy. The final forcasted rain for the forseeable future was yesterday. What a relief. I've been mopping up muddy foot prints for almost two weeks now. I'm definitely over it!!! Kasim has been on my case since we got the car to wash it. It didn't need it before, but now it needed to be washed. So, he came this morning at 7am to wash the car. He showed up with his own shammy & that was it. He went and retrieved the bucket he uses around our house & the hose and started his washing. It was pretty comical. The water pressure from the hose is just a little more than a trickle. The poor guy spent an hour trying to get enough water to get all that mud off. Finally, he filled the bucket & would throw the water at the car. I stopped watching after a while. In the end, the car looked great. I don't know how he did it but he cleaned that thing really well. He charged 3 Bahraini Dinars ($8.00 US). A little steep but it was nice to have the car washed. The real business here is in car washing. People ring our bell weekly asking to wash the car. Everyday as I drive around I see car washers washing cars. Store parking lots are full of men waiting to wash your car. I guess a clean car is a priority for the Bahrainis.

Scott's picture made the front cover of the Bahraini Desert Times. It's a picture of him putting gravy on someone's mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving Day when we volunteered. I'm standing next to him....I served the guy his mashed potatoes, but you can't see me at all because I'm so darn short. Scott covers me up completely! Oh well!!! They only put one picture from that day in the paper so I was so excited Scotty was in it! He's such a good guy. Benny & I sure missed him while he was gone. Benny more than me I think. He was in a depression the majority of the time. He can be VERY dramatic which really gets on my nerves. To see him when he's in a funk you would think we treat him like crap. The reality is that he lives the life of a prince. I'm learning to just ignore him.

I want to wish all my Hannukkah celebrating friends a Happy Hannukkah!!!

To my family and friends celebrating Christmas, Merry Christmas from Scott, Benny & myself!!! We miss you!