Sunday, March 30, 2014

No News Is Good News...

Hello all!

Well, I received some sad news!  It looks like my application for the UAE, along with a few others, is stuck in the immigration process.  Therefore, it could be several more weeks before the kid and I are out of here!  Boooo-hoooo!  Yes, tears are steaming down my face as I write this!  Ok, not really, but jeeez, this is not good news!



Sigh, so, I give myself a mental (and physical!) shake and decide since we're here in one of the most beautiful cities in the world (SF in the house, whoop, whoop), might as well make the most out of it.  I do really, really love San Francisco, and me and the kid have decided to immerse ourselves in it!  First stop, Fisherman's wharf!  We went on some speed boat ride around the bay.  I was like, how much fun could it be?  30 minutes on the bay where I was born and raised, but, ehhh, why not.  And it was so much fun!  The boat went soooo fast!  It sped towards Alcatraz and then past the bay bridge.  And the driver (skipper?!) was awesome!  She turned the boat this way and that way and made it stop short on the water and the water splashed all over the boat!  It was great, I highly recommend!  Next stop, we'er going to do a walking tour of the murals in the Mission.  I will post photos of the spectacular murals we see!  And of course, we will continue to go to the beach almost daily!

Until then..ciao...



Sunday, March 23, 2014

BABY POP!!

My sister is here! And, while I can care less about my sister visiting, her beautiful baby is visiting too!!  I call him Baby POP because he was born in a face up position, which was called something, something, something, and the initials are p o p.  I'm so excited since I only got to know him for a week when he was born.  And he was not looking good that week! Everyone knows new borns are so not cute! eeeww. Anybody who tells you different is WRONG!  But now he's 3 months old and soooo cute!  I'm never gonna let him go!  Everyone is calling me a baby hog because I won't share him with anyone!  The only thing we need his mama for is milk, and to change poo-poo diapers!  I haven't changed a boys diaper in ages, and I totally don't need to see that gooey-duck looking thing!  If you don't know what a gooey duck is, here...
That's exactly what his little pee-pee looks like! Minus the shell of course! But he is totally adorable and I am so excited I get to see him again!


Friday, March 21, 2014

Weekly Photo Challenge

Hi all!  I've decided to join the wordpress weekly photo challenge.  That doesn't mean I will post weekly, but I will try!

This week's theme was inside.  So I've posted a picture of me in Japan.  I was staying at one of those capsule hotels, and yes I actually wanted to stay there!  Pretty ingenious idea actually.  You sleep with your head at the screen which serves as a "door".  And there is a tv at your feet.  The "mattress" is about the thickness of a quarter and the pillow is about the thickness of a dime! But there's cable tv so how could you be happier!


Thursday, March 13, 2014

What's in a blog, anyway?!

Hello peeps... so, I don't know if this blog is going to be about my life in UAE, teaching in UAE, or my life in general.  I have a feeling it will be all of the above because I have a hard time with separation.  Anyway, still not in UAE and no clue when I will arrive, however, after days and days of nothingness, I received a call from my recruitment agency yesterday and I feel better.  I still didn't receive any new info; I'm still in security, it's never taken this long before, we'll keep you updated from now on. It's amazing to me how a little communication can ease some of the stress and make you feel good!  The lesson I've learned from this is that no matter who you are dealing with, your students, a store employee, or my lovely teenage daughter (no sarcasm implied at all there!), communication is the key.  Not providing people with information just puts added stress on all parties.  The one who has info and is not communicating feels stress and tries to avoid the other person, and the one on the receiving end of no communication is stressed and wondering what the heck is going on.  Even something simple like telling your students what the learning objectives are for the day, or telling the best buy clerk you really are upset that a sale just ended yesterday and you can't get that additional 10% off, or telling my kid, this is what I want to accomplish this week for you.  Communication makes someone feel like they are important in the process, whatever that process is.

Since I'm just hanging around the bay, I'm trying to keep my spirits up by doing things while I'm still here.  Albeit, free things because, right about now my bank account is existing on fumes.  My go to location of choice is always the beach.  Love it, everything about it.  The smell of the ocean, the breeze blowing across the water that could just possibly have come from the other side of the world.  Just staring out at the waves and looking at the surrounding hills is awesome.  It's amazing to me how a place could be so beautiful! Yes, I'm on of those freaks that finds beauty in nature, I am from California after all!  I don't even mind birds at the beach!  And I can't stand damn birds.  Yesterday it was really windy at the top of the hill, and I spent literally about 30 minutes just watching the birds wind surf.  They would dive down, then spread their wings and just let the wind take them.  I am very lucky I get the chance to see this beautiful place every day.  Every day I can get my butt off the sofa that is!


Saturday, March 8, 2014

Soooo.... I was planning on starting my blog once I was actually IN the UAE because that's sort of the whole purpose of the blog (even though I have a few entries, they don't really count!).  As that hasn't happened yet (arriving in UAE I mean) and, in order to break habit number 15 of the 22 habits of depressed people (google it!), I will start my blog NOW! Except, ummm, I haven't really done anything that would be, you know, blog worthy.  Unlike Heather, one of my FB friends without whom, this process would have driven my crazy by now.  She has made a quiet book for a friends kid (see pic below) and sewn a dress!  A dress!  

What have I made?  Poop! That's what I've made!  And Anika, another friend going through this same process, has wisely used her time to research, like everything under the sun!  I mean, really, ask her anything and she can give you the link to it!  What have I researched? Vines! Yup, sad but true.  I spend much of my days watching teenage boys act up on Vines videos!  This one is my favorite! https://vine.co/v/hYPBYbIlF0D/embed

Therefore, I have decided to DO something.  The first being, write my blog when creativity strikes me and, second, to learn something.  So I am learning how to use my PhotoShop Elements 12 I received for Christmas (thanks mom! Even though I had to ask a million times and eventually take your credit card and buy it myself in January.  It's still a present from you!) Below is a photo Ajenai took at the beach of me last week.  I was standing on a rock and the tide was out, but I wanted a majestic picture of me surrounded by the foaming cascade of water.  So I waited on that rock for ages until a wave came in, and promptly soaked me almost up to the knees!  Well, it was nice to get what I want for a change!  Anyway, I slightly, very slightly as I don't know what I am doing yet, enhanced the pic with PSE 12.  Hopefully I'll just get better and better!



Ummm, not sure how to end my blog posts.  I want to seem hip and funky despite being none of those things; and at the same time show my worldliness, so, uhhh, ciao, I guess...



Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Sigh....see the date? And, yup, I'm still in San Francisco.  At this point I no longer know what to think.  Their are a few of us left, still in our home countries and, thank goodness for facebook, because we are able to stay in contact and boost each others spirits.  We were all holding our breath for notification this week, but, nope, looks like we won't hear anything before Sunday at least.  I really don't know what is happening here but it is not sweet!  I'm looking for a silver lining.... only fog so far!