A Year Gone By....

My incredibly handsome husband - No one rocks the two bars like him

Can you believe that is has been a year since Mike and I have moved to Qatar?! Mind blowing I know . Well technically not quite a year , we left on the 22nd of Dec and arrived on the 23rd but for the purpose of this post it has been a year. I still sit and think and feel like we are back in Canada.  Its like we can walk out our door and go meet our friends or family , or look at the calendar and see an birthday or celebration and think what we will all be doing together. We have been gone for a years' worth of birthdays , parties , and celebrations. It does make me sad to think of all the laughs we have missed , but makes us appreciate all the good times we have with everyone when we do get to come back to Canada. It's not all a sob story though . This last year has been one of the most fun , challenging and rewarding years of our lives. We have met and become friends with some of the most amazing people who have truly blessed our lives and have in many cases been the people who we rely on . Mike and I have been be able to travel so much already having visited France , Spain , Italy , UAE, Georgia, Hungary ( more than once ;) ) , Germany , and Bahrain. Mike has been and flown into too many different countries to count in only 7 months. He gets to fly an awesome aircraft and works for a company where he doesn't daily have to call for lav services or deal with not so fresh catering. To be honest Mike gets treated pretty much like a King , or at least a duke , and he truly does love every minute of it. It's been a challenge to get used to the lifestyle here and the way people and the country go about their day to day business. Like I have said before  , if you don't have patience and resilience before you move here you better get some pretty quick or you will loose your cool. Mike and I have been pretty much the batman and robin of the marriage world. Without each other we wouldn't have gotten through this year as successfully as we have , we are the best desert surviving - cat rescuing team out there . Our biggest blessing have been our 3 new kitties. Yes we have 5 cats now. Winston and Bailey ( the godfathers of the house) have 2 new little brothers Oscar and Nemo , and one sister Sasha. Due to Sasha's inability to get along with everyone else she now lives half outside half inside. Things were getting a little too crazy here and I was worried about getting grays so we made an executive decision and that is that.

Sneak Peek at the Red Arrows in Doha

Okay so I know I have been really really bad at updating this blog , but there are  2 very honest and reliable excuses...
1) I quit my job and planned a super top secret surprise trip home so I couldn't say anything on here because obvi the surprise would have been blown , and
2) Since  my exit from the salary world I have been doing a bit of traveling and not been home.
Let me tell you that I shall repent for my absence and make sure there are regular posts. I am thinking of doing some question and answer blogs , because this is all about Mike and I and I don't want to sound too self involved. So when you see a question posed on here please reply at the bottom of my blog or on my facebook post , this way Mike and I know what everyone is up to as well.

Two dorks at Heros Square Budapest , Mike representing TML

First question , what is everyone's plans for Christmas and New Years?? Mike and I , along with about 40 other friends are going to brunch at one of the hotels here. Imagine Christmas in a dress and sandals..... outside?? Weird to think of. Sorry for all of you in Canada who have been hammered with snow, I do feel for you. When I was home in November it was 6 degrees and I was freezing my butt off. It was even worse in Budapest , -2 , it honestly felt like I was walking through Yellowknife in the middle of Feb. It is crazy how one year can take our away our ability to deal with the cold. It makes me feel like I can no longer call myself Canadian. Speaking on a Canadian note , Mike is playing hockey on Friday!!! WHAT!!! Pretty stoked about it too. The only thing is there are absolutely no places to buy any sort of equipment in Doha , so you better hope to God that nothing breaks or you are aramexing that shiznat over here. For New Years our worlds best neighbors are coming over for dinner and drinks, Mike and I are preparing a feast fit for king and queens. He told me he would help .....

Our ride to and from Munich - The beautiful 787

PSG and Real Madrid are playing a friendly match here on the 2nd of Jan so we are going to be watching that. This are the type of perks that we are privileged to by living in Doha.. After that the tennis open will be here. It's a sporty month for us. But the best part comes on the 10th when we leave to come to Canada for a few weeks!!!!! MARK YOUR CALENDARS boys and girls!!! We really really really want to see everyone so please send us messages with your days off so we can make sure to get together. We will likely be heading back to Doha around the 24th but as Mike's sked isn't out yet we don't have firm dates.

Shoes on the Danube - tribute to all the Jewish lives lost in WWII

So a quick little recap of our lives over the last few months. When I last left you guys my mom was on her way here. Well Cyndy came and conquered and I think she learned a thing or two. After many hours she now knows what the word Souq means ( it's market), and to not believe about 90 % of the things Mike says. We took her to Dubai for two days and that place is crazy. I got a little Dubai envy. There is everything you could imagine and more . You have to see it. They honestly have about 20 Tim Hortons and every other store you can think of. The malls are ridiculous , the marina is so happening and the city is literally the Vegas of the desert. The even serve pork and you and find alcohol in other places then just hotels  They say Doha is about 10 years behind , so it does give me some hope for the future. At the same time we acquired our 5th and final kitten Nemo. When I saw Nemo for the first time he had half his tail severed and what was remaining was skinned to the bone. We took him to have it amputated , and now he has the cutest little bum in the world. He is so sweet and cuddly , Mike and I are very happy. I also quit my job which was honestly a huge relief. I was not happy at my job , and as Drake says, you only live once so you gotta make yourself happy and if that means quitting then do it sista. Well he says the you only live once part but I am sure he would agree with the other things too. I finally got to go on and overnight with Mike and we hit up Tbilisi , Georgia. Super cool city. Mix between Russia and Europe. The food was amazing and we were able to see some old and newer sites and have a huge traditional dinner accompanied by Georgian dancing. Georgian men look great in tights , just an observation.

Beautiful Budapest

Workin it on the Chain Bridge

 After that I came back to Canada for a few weeks. Spent one day back in Doha and then to Budapest . My friend Kim came along for a few days and we had some much fun. There is something to be said about a girls trip , husbands are great and all but sometimes a female companion is just what you need. Unfortunately the flights were full so I ended up going to our cousin's house in Gyula for a few days. The hospitality we experience while we are there is better then any hotel in the world. I absolutely love spending time with them. We  also went to see this amazing light projection show. Here is the youtube link, just look it for like 10 seconds to see just how incredible it is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9yLntmSz7Y . You sit outside and watch these surreal lights being projected so perfectly on a completely renovated castle. I won't lie it kinda spooked me out a bit at first. It would be the perfect place for Freddie Mercury to hit up .... that's if he existed ... which he totally doesn't .... right ?! Budapest was/is in full Christmas Market swing. Christmas markets in Europe put shame on what we have in Canada. I felt like I would explode Christmas cheer and mulled wine. After that Mike and I went to Munich for some more Christmas spirit. We also managed to drink 5 liters of beer each in a night and we had a German headache the next morning.

Munich Christmas Market

So yeah in a coles notes version , that is what we have been up to. I will also point out that in the 10 days I was in Hungary Mike flew and stayed in Budapest three times. This man is seriously reconnecting with his Hungarian roots and has never been happier.

Munich

                                                                           Well I have rambled on enough now and the cats are giving me the death stare to be fed. Please , please let us know when you are free in Jan so we can come and visit everyone!!!

Merry Christmas to everyone and enjoy the time you get to spend with all your loved ones!!

Sending all the love in the world,

Mike , Megan 

Oscar , Nemo , Sasha. Winston , and Bailey xoxoox

All the stalls were so Christmasy - Santa would be proud

Sausage stand

The beginning of the end

That means flaming headache in the am 

A Well Deserved Vacation

View from our B&B on Lake Como

You know how they call it the freshman 15?? Well we found the “ Vacation , eat like a savage 10", on our recent vacation. Don’t get me wrong it was worth it , but boy let me tell you our jeans are feeling such a little bit too snug these days. Mike and I  started our vacation by landing in Milan at 6 am after an overnight flight. After doing the 13 hr flight back to Canada a little 5:30 flight is a piece of cake ( it also helps that there is a somewhat unlimited supply of champagne on the flight). I was awfully tired and little hungry and those two things don’t mesh too well for me , ask Mike it’s sorta my doctor Jekyll , Mister Hyde thing. Anyways after a little delay with the car we got on the road and headed towards Lake Como. We stayed at a beautiful Bed and Breakfast and it was right across the lake from where they filmed James Bond “ Casino Royale” .  Right next door to that was Sir Richard Branson’s villa. I tried to rent it for a few nights but unfortunately for us it was booked and cost 120 000 pounds per week. It was here that began Mike and I’s binge on cured meats and cheese. I think it would be fair to say that over the next 17 days Mike and I consumed almost a quarter leg of pork. It is sick , and we know that....... but it didn’t stop us.

The girl from the Ring sleeping in Florence

From there we went down to Bologna for two nights and ended up in the Italian equivalent of the  “Erin Fall Fair”. For all y’all who haven’t had the pleasure of attending said event , you are missing out. There were tractor pulls , farm animals , food stands , farm boys in wife beaters , and of course food tents. Because Europeans know what is going on , the booze and the food are served together . There is no need to split your times between your two favorite tents , you can fill your face and your thirst together. Of course I had a deep fried pizza dough sandwich with prosciutto and cheese , washed down with a bottle of wine , while Mike had a 3 course dinner. It was a trend on this trip , go to the point where you can’t eat any more , or go home , and let me tell you the Pados’s don’t just go home. I also attempted to drive standard which was a disaster to both the transmission and my pride.

The Last Judgement

Florence from the top of the Bell Tower

From there we went to fabulous Florence where our Persian Princess met us for the remainder of the trip. If you haven’t been to Florence I suggest you go buy a ticket right now and go. It is a great place  full of history and great food. It’s also full of marble private parts ,( since this is a PG blog  I will not go into detail ). We went to the David , Il Duomo , Ponte Vecchio , Palazzo Vecchio , 7 other museums which I can’t remember and 10 gelaterias. Okay maybe not that many but we tried to hit up the top five according to Trip Advisor. On the second night we went to meet Naz after her trip across the universe. Just to let you know she flew from Hawaii all the way to Italy and got her bag lost , and had no means of communication , and is also immune to jetlag. Also side note do not use the pay phone in Italy , they cost on average of $45 USD / min. Yeah huge pain in the butt. We eventually got her bag and her for that matter and spent the last day getting in as much of Florence as we could. In less than 18 hrs we had 3 full meals , multiple beverages  hot and cold , and various types of gelato. I hope at this point you guys are picking up on the trend here ….. we ate … A LOT. We also climbed the stairs to the bell tower and to the top of Il Duomo. That is a combined step-age of over 1000 steps in quite close quarters with a surprisingly large amount of people who do not wear deodorant. The actual church is called  the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore , and just the dome is Il Duomo (however I may be wrong on that). Google The Last Judgement by Giorgio Vasari. That’s the painting that is on the façade of the dome and some pretty serious things are going on in there. Again it’s a PG blog so it I will let you discover for yourself what I am referring too.

 

Crushin' brewskis like a champ

Cinque Terre

I think this was called Ville de Maximus Gluteus - because you would have a killer butt living there

San Sebastian

We were ultimately making our way to Nice , more preciously Opio , to our friends Nina and Julen’s house. Unfortunately enroute we found out Nina would be stuck in the US for the time we were there so it was just going to be Julen L Nina we will be coming back soon just to make sure that we see you !! On the way we spent two nights in a very small town close to the Cinque Terre national park . Also please google this as the pictures will be much better than my explanation.  5 fishing towns perched along the rocky and very very steep Italian coast line. Although in the summer it is very busy , I can not imagine how isolated it must feel in the winter. What is more crazy are the individual houses half up these hills/mountains. I have no idea how they get up or down and in case of emergency  , well as we say here Inshallah.

View from Casa Diaz xo

Hey GUURRLLL

Windy day in San Sebastian

Tourists

The next few days were spent at the wonderful Maison de Diaz . They live in a beautiful house in a very small little village , with a great view of the valley below. We took a drive through the Gorges De Verdon , which next to the Grand Canyon is the second biggest natural canyon in the world. Now my husband is a great driver don’t get me wrong , but when it comes to a manual transmission and very curvy roads his driving technique tends to cause a small amount of motion sickness….. and multiple stops for pee breaks. The last bit might not actually have anything to do with the way he drives , it might just be me but he doesn’t need to know that. After a few days stop in France we made the 8 hr drive to San Sebastian , which was amazing because Naz and I only demanded one washroom break. High five to us . You know what sucks , tolls suck ......huge. I don’t know how Europe is facing an economic meltdown when it costs 80 Euros to drive 900 kms. In Italy we got stuck going through a 12 km bridge that cost us 40.20 euros. I mean at that point there was no turning back and 12 kms through a mountain is impressive and all  but for 40.20 I expect some sort of scenery.

Waves crashing along the sea wall

If you have not been to San Sebastian I also suggest that right after you finish in Florence you get on another plane and head there. It is such a great city and the food is A-MAZ-ING. All the bars offer Pinchos , which is the Basque way of saying Tapas. They are so freaking tasty that before you know it you’ve eaten 15 and 6 glasses of wine and wonder why your bill is 50 euros. We spent the first few days exploring by ourselves as Julen had to wait in Nice for work. We took a day to go out of the city and see the country side. I am pretty sure that is where they filmed Pan’s Labyrinth , so just picture that. We did not run into any scary monsters so that was a positive. In the Basque region they speak a different form of Spanish , not that I could tell the difference and are sorta like people from Quebec in the sense of their desire to be their own country. I do however believe that the Basque people are a little more hardcore than our beloved Quebecois. Side note Mike and I had a crepe at a place called "Quebec Crepe Shop" in the middle of San Sebastian and it was heavily decorated with Habs paraphernalia and Quebec license plates. Random I know. It wasn’t until Julen got there and unfortunately Naz had just headed home , that we discovered the real and even more delicious foods the city had to offer. Mike and I had the BEST octopus we have ever had and some delicious razor clams. You have to get past their appearance because they look a little sea sluggy , but are well worth the intial fright. I don’t know if the chef personally gave the octopus a massage or what , but god help me I could eat another 8 plates worth right now.  So with our bellies full we drove back to Milan , in one day , with a bit stop in Carrcassonne.  This is pretty much a fully preserved medival city , complete with defence walls , castle , 12^th century churches , and modern day souvenir shops . It’s also a UNESCO site. I don’t know about you but it really burns my biscuits when I go to these beautiful old places and they have been completely gutted to make resturants and hotels. I understand you can’t cook over the open fire , and it’s not so nice to go to the washroom in a hole in the groud , but saving some original characteristics would be nice. All the same it was a super cool town and well worth a stop.

So that was our vacation , Naz spent 10 days with us and it was so great to finally  get her to read my blog . Seriously Naz if you don’t read this , you don’t even want to know.

Things in Doha are good , the heat is finally going away. The nights are great here , almost the prefect temp. The traffic is retarded now though ( I know that is politically incorrect , but so is the amount of horrible drivers causing mass delays). Yesterday the newspaper here said there is over 2 million people in Qatar , a number they didn’t expect to reach until 2016. So it all makes for mayhem.  Mike has been getting a lot of Europe flights and he is pretty happy with that. My mom comes here next week , and God Cyndy is in for a surprise . We are going to head to Dubai for a night and see the sights over there. Oh we also have 4 cats now , it’s a little bit of a problem our cat collection but we are working on it.

Alright homies , hope you are all keeping it real. Also the pictures weren't working too well for me so they are all scattered .

Peace in the Middle East

Much love 

The Padiis xoxoxoxo

We Are Survivors

Oscar just chillin'

This guy runs at least 45 km/hr

Well it seems like we have survived ….. survived what you may ask?! Survived the damn summer and the month of Ramadan , because we are survivors and we are not going to give up. I hope that when you read that last line you started singing “ I’m A Survivor” by Destiny’s Child in your head. You could have sang it aloud , but if you have a bad voice please stop in the name of love before you break everyones heart , I mean ear drums. Whoa off topic there let’s get back to business.

UNESCO World Heritage Site , what you see is what you get

Thank you Palmers for the yummy b-day gift xoxo

So yes we have seemed to survive our first summer in the desert ( quick tip , if you can’t remember if desert has one “s” or two always think that dessert has two “s” because you will always want seconds. Thank you Mrs Scopel grade 2 teacher of the year). What was it like you ask? If you refer to all my older posts about the inevitable appearance of my back sweat, my body did not let me down. It was hot and sticky and sweaty and smelly. The heat is one thing, like some pale people from Canada can handle 46 degrees , but when you throw in the humidity it is enough to kill. Actually there are a lot more deaths in Qatar during the summer months. A lot of cardiovascular related deaths . It seems like eating a bucket of KFC chicken thighs and then venturing into 56 degree weather is not the smartest thing. When Mike and I had our share box , 2 BigMacs , 2 McRoyales ( yes they do exist here , but whoppers are better) , 9 piece chicken nugget ( tasted a little like popcorn ) , 2 large fries and 2 large pops ( they wanted to give us four but we didn’t want to go crazy ) , we parked our sodium ridden bums on the couch and watched TV because god knows you do not want to play with fire. We actually went to the beach the other day and I swear to you the temperature of the OCEAN was as hot as a bath. If I had some bubble bath and a rubber duckie I would have made it my own personal bathtub. It was a little uncomfortable and I have never felt anything like that. The obvious key to success is to stay hydrated and indoors during the peak hours. All the outdoor workers are allowed to take a break from 11am – 3pm in order to stay shaded during the hottest parts of the day.

B-Day dinner - missing a few in the pic

Angie's sick photo skills 

Trip to Budapest - Puszi Lujza

Ramadan was an interesting experience. The obvious challenges for someone not practicing was not being able to publicly eat or drink anything from sun rise to sunset. For me at work they allowed me some water but all my meals had to be taken in a separate room with closed blinds so no one could see in. The roads were a lot less congested though which was a good thing. Grocery stores and malls were open to midnight , sometime even 1 am. It was literally midnight madness every day for a month. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan and things get back to normal. This year it happened to fall on August 8^th , woot woot the day alcohol was allowed to be served was also the day of my birthday. The night was great , I started out looking like a rockstar but once the heat and humidity hit things took a turn for the worse. I guess I only have another 20 birthdays to deal with it. Ramadan moves forward about a week every year as it follows the cycle of the moon.

Mike with Lotti - This little girl walks with a purpose

For the last two months we have really just been working and vegging out because like I just explained it was too hot to do anything. Mike’s mom was also just here for a week , so was able to experience some of the Doha summer . That is also something that I survived . I am just kidding , she honestly told me to write that. Mike and I are heading on vacation in two weeks and are meeting up some amazingly , beautiful people on the way! Naz is going to come and meet us in Rome and then head to Nice to stay with our friends Nina and Julien for a week. Mike and I will be in Italy , France and maybe Spain for about 3 weeks and consuming record breaking amounts of cured meat and wine. Well I will be for sure , I guess I shouldn’t speak for Mike.

Mike has been enjoying flying , this month he went/is going to Moscow , Tbilisi twice , Rome , Thiruvananth India , Athens and some day turns around the Gulf. Work for me is……. well it’s going. Candy Crush is still keeping me busy and I have recently started intensely watching Downton Abbey . If you have not watched it please do and don’t make the same mistake as me and call it “Downtown Abbey”. Hope you all are watching the final season of Dexter and Breaking Bad. Walt is such a badass.

Oh and we will be home from Jan 8^th for two weeks , hopefully 3 if Mike can sweet talk the right person ;)

Yummy Gelato made into a flower - Budapest

Alright all you beautiful people , keep it real and start planning some trip to Doha now that the hottest time of the year is over.

All our love,

Mike , Megan , Winston , Bailey , and Oscar xo

P.S Parinaz if you do not message me and tell me that you read this - well I can't promise our future

Iftar tent at the W- Breaking the fast buffet , we broke something - think it was the scale

O'Canada!

Two ladies wearing matching outfits - we called each other

The goat on the Toyota goes BAHHH

This is how you make pilots happy 

Firstly Happy Belated Canada Day to everyone!!! Looking at everyone’s pictures it makes me a little jealous to see you sucking back a few cold Canadian brews on your cottage docks , BBQ-ing those tasty ribs and during the warm summer nights , laughing with friends , talking about just how much you miss Mike and I. Just kidding , but if you do miss us you know where we are so come and visit!! Been catching up on my daily T.O star news and seems you Southern Ontarians ( don’t actually know what the proper name is ) , have been under a heat warning. Now if this was last summer I would be there with you, relishing in the warm temperatures, even welcoming the humidity as my hair frizzed up and I worried if I was showing any back sweat.    Now this summer I am longing for your temperatures and wish it was only 36 degree high. On my way to work this morning at 5:28 am it was already 36 degrees , today we are looking at a high of 42 but it really feels like 49. I don’t worry if I am showing my back sweat or my hair is frizzy because I KNOW these things are happening. I also look like a cabbage patch kid , minus the cuteness just the red faces. This heat is pretty serious ,I mean my sunglasses are now fogging when I leave the cold temps and head into the chambers on hell. We haven’t hit the “ it’s almost as hot as when you open your oven and get blasted in the face with heat” hot, but my friends those glory days are just around the corner. On the plus side it is a great way to lose some water weight. I went swimming yesterday and it was hotter than most baths I have, some pools here actually have coolers rather the heaters. Oh how I miss jumping into the lakes.

Oscar looking his daddy - he thinks he found him

My Anniversary present xoxoxo

Oh yeah back to Canada Day ……sorry got side tracked the heat does this to you. Mike and I spent Canada Day celebrating with our fellow countrymen. There is an organization here called “ Canadians in Qatar”, and most of these peeps work at the various Canadian college/universities here. According to one lady there is an estimate 6000-8000 glorious Canadians in Qatar at any given moment. I think that might be a bit high but at the College of North Atlantic here in Doha there are 600 Canadian teachers alone. There is also the University of Calgary and some primary schools here that employee some teachers. So who actually knows? The night was great and the group did an AMAZING job with the decorations and celebrations. There were some themed drinks , among them were : The Toronto Macho whish was pretty much straight CC , the beavertail ( Mike’s fav , complete with a marshmallow ) , the senator ( unfortunately there were some senator fans among us) , the Lucy Maud , the bare naked ladies , and the Queen Victoria.  It was all Canadian music paying (not even tragically hip but there is always next year ), and we all patriotically sang ‘ O Canada”.  I taped it but you can only pretty much only hear me singing and I am no Adele so I will spare you the pain. Sunil came with us as the official British Ambassador, he wanted to confirm that although it was Canada Day we still knew who our big mama was. She is the queen. I also secretly think he was trying to figure out how to apply for Canadian citizenship , but it is only a hunch.

I swear we found them like this

John Gorham you want a pair????

 

Can you believe we have been here over 6 months now , and it is really starting to feel like it’s home. Iclassify really calling this place home when I read the paper and get annoyed when road work isn’t being completed on time, or when I get excited to see there is a new restaurant opening , or when I  try and remember where exactly we found the original Mac and Cheese. We find it important to see what is going on in our community and look forward to events that are upcoming, ( when the bars reopen ).. We do truly like living here , despite the heat and way things are run. Mike and I have come here with a “North American” mind-set on how things should be done , how things should work and really how things should be organized. Big mistake ! Anything that would take 30mins -1 hour in Canada takes 4 days , 8 stamps ,driving the 5 different buildings , and taking 3 Xanax to keep you calm. We have really come to realize how small our part of the world is back in Canada , and also as my grandpa has been trying to teach me since I was 2 years old P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E!!

Our Ramadan supply 

The holy month of Ramadan starts either tonight or tomorrow. Apparently Astrologers will advise us today. This will be the biggest challenge for us yet. Most restaurants are closed during day light hours , malls are shut down , you are not allowed to eat , drink , or chew gum in public , but most importantly it becomes a dry country. I find it so ironic that for the part of the population here that need a drink the most are unable to find it. Mike and I are prepared, 900 Canadian dollars’ worth of preparation. This may, and I say may very loosely, get us through the next month. Just kidding mom don’t have a heart attack. We also got some pork , freezer is full. For our Qatari friends if you are in desperate need of some relief you know where to come , we will only charge you 100 QAR / beer or 5 for 400. For me I work in an office where half of the people are practicing Muslims . I have to leave my office to eat and drink for a month, if I didn’t like my job before I think this may reassure my feelings. I am going to stock up on lives for Candy Crush and just play on and keep calm as much as possible. I will report back in a month and let you guys know how it goes , if you don’t hear from me someone please take care of my cats.

Mike , Sunil , Brad , and Maureen ( from Guelph!)

Can you believe that Mike and I have almost been husband and wife for an entire year already. Well July 28^th to be exact so mark it on your calendar. While you are at it my birthday is the 8^th of Aug. So I am a very very lucky lady and my husband bought me a truck for our anniversary. Disclaimer though : This is likely my anniversary gift for the next 60 years. As any of you who know my husband and can attest that he is very “keen” about his cars .The best part about MY car is that it is MINE and I can do whatever I want to it. Well minus oil changes , routine maintenance , Mike can still take care of that. If I get a flat tire he can probably take care of that and if he wants to wax it too. Anything else though is MINE!!

Mike and Luca celebrating , the Italian Stallion

Well peeps I am actually at work so it is time to get back to Candy Crush , I have full lives now. Mike is going to Budapest again this week for work , so standby gods willing I will be joining him. He has been able to visit his cousins there and hopefully we will see a few more this week. These are the perks of his job , he gets to fly to the motherland and see all his family!! Oh and Hooman Mike wanted me to include some pics of his crew meals here so maybe you guys can use it as a rough outline for some improvements.

HOOMAN TAKE NOTES- Breakfast at FL something

Well Ramadan Kareem to all!!

With lots of love and hugs

Megan , Mike , Bailey , Winston and little Oscar xoxoxo

A Great Visit Home

Mike and Emma - So cute!

I know I know I suck at writing as often as I said . I really am trying to think of some great excuse like I have been hanging out with the Emir on camel back , or bashing the sand dunes on a daily basis . But the truth is I was super jetlegged and I got cable. Okay it's just the fact that I got cable. I have some much Game of Thrones on demand that I can't get enough ( for those of you who watch , last weeks episode OMG!) I know what happens because I read , but fo real when you see it !!!

Lovely ladies at all you can eat - 3 lbs right here

Lovers in a dangerous time

Whadd'up Dario

So what has been going on with us. Well as you all know we did manage to come home and see everyone. We were so happy to see the sweet faces we have so desperately been missing.   Also as Perry said " We got to see our gang of babies ". God I don't know what it is but I swear Canadians make great looking kids. If you are not Canadian please don't hate , but it's true. I got in all the cuddles and kisses I wanted to , but time permitting there would have been more. We also managed to eat everything we wanted to , which probably explains why I gained 4.7 lbs in 7 days. I know right . I also managed to lose my voice during a particularly liquid night . My voice has not fully recovered because I again have Carlsberg laryngitis . What wasn't amazing about being at home is that fact I have become biggest Canadian wiener and was FREEZING. I saw snow and almost didn't know what it was . Just kidding I laughed at all you suckers who had to deal with some much this winter .... MUAHAHAHA.  Seriously though I know we said to everyone we have a free room with comfy beds  and there is a lot of fun things to do in Doha , but if I don't see you here in 5 years I will no longer consider you a friend. Just call first . Side note they have Jerseylicious on TV here , if you have not heard of it that is a good thing , but I now know how to perfectly tease my hair the Jersey way. Mike and I loaded up on Canadian goodies , we brought around 20 bags of wine gums , 4 bags of cookies , chocolate bars , and 2 sets up sheets. All the necessities right?!

Granny and Mckenzie

We just had an amazing 36 hr visit from the one and only Mark Mungo!!! Talk to him , he can attest to the abundance of food and drink in this place. It was awesome to have our home friends meet our Doha friends , they taught each other a few things but since this is a PG blog I can not comment on what they are. From now until October is not the best time to visit because it is a steady 40 degrees and only promises to get hotter and sweaty-er . Also Ramadan will be upon us in just over a months time. During the holy month here no one is allowed to eat or drink in public until sunset. That means in our car , in the office , in the mall , at the pool ..... I think you get the picture. It is going to be very challenging considering I drink 6 cups of coffee to stay awake at my extremely mentally stimulating job. I am currently doing a course for the A380 ( or as some people like to call is the A3080. ) The instructor is vverryy French , from Frannce and Airbussss ( Please repeat the last sentence to yourself in a French accent and you will see what keeps me occupied 8 hrs a day). What's really important though is that Qatar will have 8 first class and 47 business so I am working out my chances of snagging one of those seats , especially the ones near the bar.

Mike is now fully online and fully smacked with a A320 schedule. He got home from a two day pairing to Budapest last night and is on his way to Goa India right now. He lands at 540 tomorrow morning , blahhhh. This month we have one day off together so hard times in the Pados house. It's not all bad though , a few nights in Europe for him means a few grocery items for me he can buy and

Sophie and Uncle Mikey

  

The beautiful Ayla - Thank god she looks like you CJ

few extra nights in the king bed by myself and the three cats. Oh yeah we are keeping Oscar , at this rate in 15 years we will have 45 cats. I wonder if Canada has a limit for importing cats.

Anyways it's time for bed for this gal and her three cats.

We love you all and miss you tons. Mothers please do not allow your children to get any bigger until we get back . Thanks!!

Meg and Mike xo

Bailey and Oscar have a snooze

This is Mama's cat , you decide if this haircut is animal abuse