Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Home safe.

We had a pretty uneventful trip, which is good. The kids were great. The kids are always great. I suppose the key is the parents. If the parents can do just the right thing then the kids are angels. So I let Atticus eat his entire pack of Starbursts at one sitting. I read Cinci "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" a few times. Shermy was with daddy for the whole trip so I didn't have to indulge him too much. We flew out from San Francisco and arrived in New York on time. Then we weaved our way through JFK international airport and were the last people on the plane to Doha. I guess we barely made it on the plane. There was a flight attendant for every three people. We got tons of complimentary gifts from Qatar Airways. The first gift was a fistful of hard candies for each of my children. In my mind I was thinking, " Gosh, don't you know my kids have no sense of restraint!" But then I remembered that we weren't in the United States anymore. I guess I can stop buying my kids candy again. It was a 12 hour flight. That was probably something I've never done before. We were landing and the kids were glued to the windows. Shermy said,"Oh, it's so beautiful!" I guess kids do emulate parents, because that's what I'm always saying when we're driving around and I see something I like. The funny thing is that I wouldn't really call Doha beautiful. In fact, it's not. It's brown. Everything is brown except for all the neon signs in front of the stores. The heat isn't as bad as I thought it would be. We stepped out of doors at 8 PM and it was about 95 degrees. Not too bad. The sun had gone down already. This morning we ventured to the park before the sweltering heat set in. It was pretty hot but we managed. The idea of staying inside all day with Jonathan gone wasn't possible for me. I just can't contain these boisterous boys!

The most wonderful thing about Doha and our situation are our living arrangements. Jonathan's boss was able to get us a three bedroom apartment instead of a two bedroom one. And what luxury for us. I haven't lived in such a large place, nor such a nice place EVER. I'm sure many of my readers live or have lived beyond these standards but we sure haven't except at the Marriot resorts. The kids love it. Jonathan just got home from his orientations and went in to talk to Atticus.
J: So how do you like it here?
A: I like the inside but not the outside.
J: Why not?
A: It's too hot.
Well, we're happy. We went to a grocery store last night and I got myself some cucumbers and yogurt and made myself some yogurt with minced garlic and grated cucumber. Divinity! I ate all of it. Even after my cucumber sticks were gone and the bread I was using to dip into it, I ended up eating it all up with a spoon. I love yogurt from the middle east!
Here are some pictures of our apartment. Please visit me. There is plenty of room. Two and a half baths. Three bedrooms all with walk in closets. A living room, dining room, and kitchen. Laundry room and storage room. I'm impressed.


The kids' closet.

Our half bathroom has a built in diaper changing area.

Master bedroom.

kitchen

dining room

living room

Our front door.
























4 comments:

Nancy said...

That is an AWESOME apartment! I'm sure you'll enjoy living there. :)

Good luck with the heat! Blech...

3lilgirls said...

wow you guys that is so nice!! Happy you are safely there!

Sonja said...

Gee wilikers! I like your new diggs. I'm so glad you made it there safely and that the boys were all good. You are so wise (with the starbursts and reading). Your family is lucky to have you.

Let the new adventures begin!

Taranani said...

Ok, I am Not showing Ali and Cori those pictures. . . They don't need to know the boys' closet is bigger than their room. I know we have lots of room downstairs, but all of the living gets done upstairs, so most everything is upstairs too! Anyway, I'm just glad you have an oven and plumbing and huge closets. Please don't lock yourself in any bathrooms or let cinci burn the place down. Now that you're across the world again, I guess we'll actually have to post something on our blog again!