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| Two ladies wearing matching outfits - we called each other |
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| The goat on the Toyota goes BAHHH |
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| 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.
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| Oscar looking his daddy - he thinks he found him |
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| 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.
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| I swear we found them like this |
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| 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!!
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.
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| 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 28th to be exact so mark it on your calendar. While you are at it my birthday is the 8th 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!!
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| 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.
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| 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
