I love mornings like this.

Nothing too extreme.  Just our little family of three out and about for some fresh air :)

Coffee at the marina, followed by a walk along the corniche.  A half-blurry photo from an excited little Girlie :)

All bundled up for the occasion.  It was cold at 8 a.m.!  (You know, cold for people who live here.)

Exception:  Phil is wearing shorts and the people walking by in winter jackets think he's NUTS.  I think he's NUTS too.  

Are you reading this and wondering how our family is going to survive Europe in December?  Because I am.  And I think the answer is:  HAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MARY AND MARTHA

Phil purchased this movie a few days ago because the cover looked a little girlie and he thought it would be something I might enjoy (a girlie looking cover is the ultimate clue).  Of course, because the DVD's we get in our 'hood aren't 100%........official........the cover pictures vary from the real deal, as do the descriptions.  Some descriptions are in other languages or are absent completely and so we usually do our best "judge a movie by its unofficial cover" in order to select new ones to view.  This strategy is usually an effective one.  We were bang on with Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses.  Sometimes, however, this strategy fails us and I end up a sobbing mess about 20 minutes into the show - when a sweet, cute, family movie takes a dramatic turn for the absolute worst and children end up dying.  Like in this movie.  Yes, we were WAY WRONG about this movie. 

It all started out nice enough with a woman and her son going on a 6 month adventure to Africa.  The boy was videotaping giraffes with a big grin, playing soccer in the savannah, and being all silly with his mother.  I was loving it - holding hands with my hubby, having a tea, and smiling at how nice it was for Phil to think of me when the Movie Man stopped by.

But then...

BAM. 

The boy gets malaria and dies. 

HORRIBLE.  (all CAPS).

I looked at Phil like "FOR REAL?!"  I remember saying, "why can't they just keep learning and having fun together and for that to be the whole movie?"  You see - I'm the type that likes to keep as much of my reality in a bubble as I can AND 100% of my entertainment in a bubble.  It's simply NO FUN to cry it out.  But this is the thing about watching movies from the Magical Movie Man, rather than watching movies that are the talk of the town (or at least in the newspaper!) back home.  I'm sure people that viewed this movie in Canada had some sort of a "heads up" on the devastation because they had either seen previews for the movie (which we don't see here) or they had read a legitimate summary of the storyline prior to watching it.  YOU LUCKY PEOPLE YOU.  It's not so convenient everywhere ;)

Anyways, I toughed it out through the death of ANOTHER son and managed to watch Mary and Martha in its entirety.  I had three main thoughts when the video finished:

1)  I hate mosquitoes. 
2)  Nory isn't going to Africa anytime soon. (Happy about that, Grandparents?!)
3)  How can I make a donation to help prevent malaria? 

From you, I am looking for support on thought #1, no comment on thought #2, and some SERIOUS answers for thought #3.  If you know of any organization that delivers bug nets to areas in need, I would appreciate the information!  There was a speech in the movie that really stuck with me....

Did you know that if you take every single person killed in a terrorist act around the world in the last 20 years -- and add to that every life that's been lost in the Middle East since the Six Day War in '67 -- and add to that every single American life we lost in Vietnam and Korea -- and every single other military conflict America's been involved in since then, Iraq, Afghanistan... If you take all those lives -- that we'd all have given so much to save -- you've still got to multiply them by two to get to the number of kids who die of malaria every single year.

Scary, right? 

It's time to sacrifice some lattes, PEOPLE!  'Tis the season of giving and GIVE we WILL DO.

DATE NIGHT with the BESTIE (compliments of the BIG CHEESE)

Gem and I got SUPER lucky with our date night activity.  Although anything as a duo would have been just swell, Phillip was able to secure two tickets to the Bill Rancic lecture for us - upping our soiree from "good" to "SUPER FREAKING AMAZING"!  I was off-the-walls excited when he texted me the good news during class time and I was all giddy-like-a-school girl when I got to tell Emily about it.  Bill Rancic is a living room icon in this house (at least in my opinion) and I am head over heels for his adorable family of three.  In fact, in preparation for the lecture, I forced my family to watch endless episodes of Giuliana and Bill.  (Speaking of which, Giuliana ALSO believes in half birthday's.  FACT). 

The lecture itself was fabulous.  Some parts of the event were rather............interesting.......but anything within Bill's realm of control was SUPERB!  He talked about making pancakes at his grandmother's house (for tips, of course!), his first real business (the cigar of the month club), and what it was like being on The Apprentice (and working for The Donald).  He had some serious messages for the business faculty, of course, but I was mostly interested in the entertainment/oh-my-gosh-I'm-staring-at-Bill-Rancic aspects of his speech.  During the Q & A, somebody asked him if G was his business partner.  His response?  G is my PARTNER IN EVERYTHING.  ADORBS!!!!!!!!!  (Hey - the take home message varies from person to person!)

Here are some snaps from the evening:

Holding a hot commodity!

I couldn't find any Chicago gear in our house, so I decided to wear Canada gear to make Bill feel a little closer to home :)

Q & A time!  There were a few questions on my mind, but I didn't feel they would be appropriate in a room full of business students.....(e.g. Did G come to Kuwait with you?  Want to bring Baby Duke over for a play date?)

The room was pretty small.  We were about ten rows from the front!

If there is one thing that Kuwaitis REALLY, TRULY excel at - it's CUPCAKES.  They really know how to do 'em up! 

Thank you, Gem, for a delightful date night!  I suppose I should also thank my hubby - thanks BABES!  I really don't know how this date could possibly be topped.  Then again, we are headed to Europe in less than a month! 

Putting THE FAMILY Numero UNO.

Lately, I've been finding it really difficult to balance teaching, parenting, wife-ing, friend-ing and time for myself.  I mean, I can DO all of those things, but I am definitely not doing them each as well as I would like to.  I feel like if I am being a really good teacher, then I am working late and not being a really good mom.  If I am being a really good family gal, I am not being a really good friend.  I started to feel really overwhelmed and down and that no matter what I did, I was always letting SOMEBODY down.  And being a guilty person to begin with, this was seriously stressful for me.

For a while, I thought I was handling my obligations really well.  Perhaps I was on some sort of a "working mom" high that just motivated me to keep on going.  People were impressed that I went back to work so early and I think I was too.  It helps that I like my job and I think it helps that I was forced to go back to work after 70 straight calendar days.  I kept thinking, "I can do this" and I would continue to grind it out every day.

But then the first paragraph stuff happened.  It wasn't pretty, folks.  Nory is like a little person now - showing us how much she wants us around by screaming with excitement when we walk in from work.  And seeing her wave goodbye when I leave the house is crushing (times 50)!  I hate it.  She handles it far better than I do and I usually require our brief trip down the elevator as a time to re-group and suck it up for the school day.  The truth is.....I need more time with her.  She is growing up SOOOO quickly and I want as many moments with her as possible.

Over the weekend, Phil and I both had some sort of revelation.  The next day at work, he rescheduled Saturday basketball practices to Sunday nights (freeing up family time on the weekend) and he made sure to end all practices in the future in time to be home for bath time with Nory.  I cancelled tutoring that same day and then had to deliver the difficult news to one of my favourite parents that I just could not continue working with her boys anymore.  Voila - FAMILY FIRST.

It's really hard to get wrapped up in outside-of-the-home stuff, especially when you are the type of people that we are.  I love to teach and I love to work one-on-one with kids to help them improve.  Phil ADORES basketball and would do it all the time if it were feasible.  We are passionate people.  Passionate people who also have financial responsibilities and traveling dreams.  Perhaps this is why we so easily got tangled up in the extra work that we do.

We will see how this restructuring of commitments works out.  When you wake up to things like this (even when the clock says "4:45"), somehow it feels like everything is going to be A-OKAY......

You won't believe this.

You know that feeling you get when you hear "SNOW DAY" on the radio?  That extra giddy, super bouncy feeling that takes over you?  The one that sends you straight back to your room for comfies and then straight back to your siblings for more "HIP, HIP HOORAY" time?!  Well, that's the same feeling we have RIGHT NOW!

All schools are cancelled today in Kuwait.  Yep, students have yet ANOTHER day off!!!!!  Teachers at our school must report from 9-2, but that sure beats 7-3 so I won't complain - not even for a second!  I'm not really sure why the students aren't joining us, but I am assuming it has to do with all the rain we got the other day.  So - let's just call it a RAIN DAY.

And in our spare time, WE TEACH PEOPLE!  Haha.  Oh happy day.  I get a little extra Nory time after school before my DATE NIGHT with Gem begins!

Flooded with Excitement (HA!)

So - welcome to the new look!  Around this time of year (or so it seems), I get REALLY bored of the blog design and want to mix it up a bit.  I changed it last year in mid-December and with it being only ONE MONTH UNTIL MY BIRTHDAY, I figured it's basically December and a change-up at this point in time would be superb. 

My goal was to simplify things and keep it as low maintenance as possible - I don't want to be accountable for updating different pages or sidebars.  When they become old news or irrelevant, it irritates me and I just don't have the time to fix it.  Hence, the deletion of the pages toolbar.  I also worked on a new header this morning and I am especially pleased about the three little "pearls" on the right-hand side (one for each of us!).  Things are Plain Jane - just the way Phil likes it.  Just the way I've come to like it!  Time-savers are life-savers ;)  I hope it's semi-eye-pleasing for you too!

We are home from school today due to an African conference taking place in the country.  They anticipated extreme traffic, and with the traffic situation already being kind of an issue here, we were granted a HOLIDAY!  HOLLA!  That being said, I'm pretty sure we would have gotten the day off anyways due to "rainmageddon".  When we left school yesterday, it was POURING!  Some areas flooded - like cars drowning in water flooded - and some intersections/roads were shutdown.  Our beloved mall was also flooded and Phil and I had to have a serious conversation about leaving Kuwait completely if the mall was "done for".  Really - what would we do without it?!  (Please remember where we live, PEOPLE!)

This is NOTHING compared to others photos we have seen.  In some areas, cars were drowning in water!

Our curtains did clean-up!  (They must have been thirsty!)

Last night we braved the storm to pick-up some groceries.  We initially had plans of only picking up the basics....but that turned into a whole cart full of comfort food/OMG-what-if-it-legit-floods food.  I'm talking peanut butter cups, jars of peanut butter, and................."New Years Eve" type appetizers.  Hugely practical, right?   Thank goodness the storm didn't take over the streets completely.  We'd be DOOMED! Haha.  (But really popular because we'd have the treats you crave in times of crisis). 

Enjoying our snack and watching America's Next Top Model.  Could there be anything more relaxing?!  Haha.

This morning Nory decided to wake up at 4:30.  I think she's working on her other top front tooth and she hasn't been eating or sleeping too well the last few days.  Orajel and cold cloths have become our best friends, as they seem to maintain some sort of peace and happiness in the flat. 

Kumari came today so we could have a sleep-in.  As per usual, Phil was able to do it and I was wide-eyed and unable to get back to dreamland.  I made a tea and did arts and crafts instead.  Check out what I made for Nory: 

Her very own TEXTURE BOARD!  I didn't intend on creating a scene from my odds and ends, but somehow a garden was built in the wee morning hours.

I think she liked it.  Although she thought it should also be a "tasting" board.....

Other than artwork (yes, I call it that), blog stuff, and cleaning up, we have been playing with Nory and catching up on some tv shows.  Kumari went home around lunch time so we could have some IMMEDIATE-FAMILY-ONLY time on this rainy, rainy day. 

Two work days until the weekend!  I could get used to having ZERO five-day work-weeks EVER.....

MISSING ALL OF YOU!!!!

Breaking News!

1)  We haven't had enough holidays lately (sarcasm at its finest, folks!).  This week there is a conference happening in Kuwait and the government declared Tuesday a holiday for the public sector.  Our director decided to grant us this day as well (as an early holiday gift, he added).  HIP, HIP!  I could get used to this two days on, break, two days on again BIZNAZZZZ.

2)  Rumour has it we are in for a "Rainmageddon".  Three to four days of intense, heavy rain.  This should be interesting seeing how we're not really set up for large amounts of precipitation......

3)  Emily and I are going on a date this Wednesday.  I can't wait!!!  What to wear, what to wear....(haha).

Two things that I think are marvelous:

THIS and THIS.  Enjoy!

Narrating the CAMERA ROLL.....

The Movie Man came last night.  I wonder which movies each of us chose......

My precious timbit ornament.  I LOVE IT.  I have it placed right where I can see it from my "spot" on the couch!

I know what you're thinking, "when's the next plane ride to Kuwait?!"  AHHHH - hurry up and open Barbie Spa!

Speaking of amazing businesses, this here is a store dedicated to HELLO KITTY.  We found it at the mall this weekend.  Who knew?!

A small glimpse into the craft store we found today.  The best part about it is that the name sounds similar to "Bear Cat", which means we got to sing DO THE BEAR CAT the whole way there!!!!

The start of a beautiful relationship....

With Christmas that is.  Just check out this little chicken in action.  (And our tree, of course!)

We got the job - the best job ever - done after Nory went to bed last night.  The thought of doing it while she was awake only occupied our brains for about 0.2 seconds before we laughed and declared the task more suitable for a duo.  We also used our visions of "Nory + Christmas Tree" to select a tree location that would have the greatest chance of survival.  Ah-hem, Nornado warnings are rather frequent in this house, hence it's placement atop our tall-yet-small table.  (You will also notice that Phil's tv has been elevated in our attempt to Nornado-proof). 

Then the waiting-for-Nory-to-see-it began.  Waiting for morning felt like forever and I didn't even have an ounce of bed-envy until past 11 o'clock!  I wanted Nory to wake up and see her very first Christmas tree and I wanted it to happen ASAP!!!!  Wouldn't you know she chose TODAY of ALL DAYS to sleep in until 6:20 and make Ma and Pa wait it out some more.

When I finally heard her sweet little "COME AND GET ME!" coo's in the monitor, I couldn't help but race to her room and wake Phil up to do the official "tree lighting".  We counted to three and with a big TA-DA, the lights came on and we all smiled and awed and one of us almost started to cry (wonder who that was....).  It was SUCH A SPECIAL MOMENT! 

Phil went back to bed after this (the event triggered various amounts of JOY in the three of us), but Nory and I stayed up to enjoy the commencement of our holiday season.  You can tell from the photo that she was quite eager to climb that table and get to that tree!

Hooray for Christmas!  Hooray for FIRST CHRISTMASES!  Hooray for FAMILY!  Hooray, HOORAY!

Top it all off with a "fresh balsam" candle from Bath & Body Works.  We've got it MADE.