Yesterday was a nice start to the weekend. I lounged in bed all day, read a huge chunk of my book on Kindle, ate some leftovers. Yes, Friday was the first day of Ramadan and I had prepared. Thursday night, I ordered delivery - enough to last me for supper and through the day - and from one of my favorite places: Zaatar w Zeit. They make these delicious falafel wraps that are huge and are good for two or three meals: it is a spiced falafel mix with parsley, tomatoes, turnip and radish. I also a Fattoush Salad on the side, which is a traditional Lebanese salad with tomatoes, cucumber, mint, parsley, onions, pepper, lettuce and halloumi cheese with baked bread chips and drizzled with a yummy vinegarette. Seriously, so far this my absolute favorite ... read more

Thursday, I was informed that I would NOT be working in Qatar anytime soon, so I was very excited to get a move on my officially settling into Dubai. Soon, I'll be able to get my license, buy a car, get a bank account, and most importantly, get an apartment! Woot woot! Of course, my favorite client made my life a living hell for the last couple of days of work, but the difficult part of the project is almost over. I hope! Friday, I took myself to the Mall (where else?) and watched a movie in the VIP section. Red Lights was ok, nothing spectacular, but I just love watching the movies in this fashion. I was bad with my food this weekend, and nachos at the movie with a coke was just the beginning. ... read more

So the last few days after returning from Abu Dhabi were pretty typical. Go into work. Do some work. Eat at Times Square. Tease Samar. The usual. I feel like things happened though... Sunday I got my first package from Sharyl in Malibu. An LA Kings shirt! Woot woot! And some trinkets to remind me of what I'm missing in the Bu. I was so happy! I think it took about a month to get here, just for future reference. ;) Monday was more fun though. First of all, most everyone knows how I love being right, which is why I am happy all the time. ;) And many of you know about my amazing weather sense. So, I noticed our office was getting dark, so I went outside to see what was up, expecing a ... read more

I could not wait for Thursday to end! I had another meeting with a client in the far southern part of Dubai, and true to form, their demands had me laughing and crying at the same time. So, I kept busy on Thursday trying to finish another report for another demanding client, which I didn't finish. But it didn't matter because soon I would be seeing Jamie that evening. I got off at the Mall of the Emirates (my second home), and told her I'd meet her at a coffee shop (not Starbucks). We hugged, had dinner at La Spezzia where I had my pizza a couple weeks before; the salad bar was pretty good and pizza ok. Then we found our way back through the maze of one way streets to my hotel, whereI packed ... read more

Cassells Al Barsha tries very hard to be a nice hotel, and for the most part, I've enjoyed my almost 5 weeks here. But there are somethings that are lacking. As I mentioned before, my refrigerator does not get very cold and they told me that it was cold enough. I barely feel comfortable keeping fruit and vegetables in there - I could never keep milk. But I've adapted to this minor inconvenience. Yesterday, I was bad and didn't take a shower in the morning before work, due to having taken a shower after the pool the night before and sleeping in a little. When I came home yesterday, I wanted to do some laundry and I noticed the water never got beyond warm. I figured it was a hot day and they were probably plagued ... read more