Wednesday, Thursday, Friday...

Wednesday

Once every two months, as a treat, we take Yllac to either book or toy shopping. Just one book or toy. That's it. Believe me, we are trying to do this parenting thing to the best we can. Am pretty sure it's a tough call for a child just to pick one item. 

Thursday.

We also eat out once a week, mostly on a Thursday to celebrate the past hectic days. We also like to stay up late, watch movies to make up for those 7:30 pm  weekdays bedtime.  

And then after we fed ourselves, we go and feed the ducks. And that one turtle.

Friday...

Last Friday, we just stayed home. There's a Qatar Food Festival happening since last Wednesday, and Friday is a family day, so we were pretty sure that it's crazy out there if we go out. We'll end up miserable looking for parking space and of course the traffic....the traffic. 

Anyway, look at mah boy. Best 29 riyals I've ever spent on a toy!

Cleaning up is always a challenge.

The end.

How Do You Unwind?...

This is how I unwind:

• I paint my nails
• Read
• Orange juice
• Watch an episode of Friends or The Office
• Pray
• Pluck my eyebrows
• Alone time with Jayson

I can talk through and think logically after one or two of these things happen. No matter how frustrated I feel, It's so nice to have something to fall back on when anxiety or stress hits. I want you to know though that I always take it easy with my brows. 

love,

Denise

Rain...

Nope, there's not much of a drainage system in the middle east. If it rains, it will give you a pond. 

So gloomy here guys. It's been raining here for days. By this month of the year, it simply means summer is about to arrive. Yup. That's how it goes here. The rain signifies a change in weather. I remember last year, in the middle of a scorching day it started pouring for like five minutes. Everybody was just so happy, you can hear it all over the radio, it was festive really. All DJs are freaking about it. It's a sign they were all saying. Winter is here! Winter is here! Everybody can feel it. It was the most glorious 4 to 5 months of great weather in middle east. And then, this Sunday it rained. Summer is here, and some of us feel doomed. Am I grumpy or what? But let's focus on the rain for now. Because people here seems to enjoy it. Mostly by the locals. I've seen a lot of them walking on the street, just soaking the rain. Just walking under the drizzle, smiling and just enjoying it. So two days ago I asked Jayson to have our lunch out. But it's raining he said. So? This is the very last day of coolness here, let's have fun with it.  

Every time he sees this lion, he must pose and take a picture with it. 

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And hey hey hey, this is an outfit post too.

Yep!

So, i've been thinking. I've been formulating a certain no-brainer-look for work wear these days. And waaaahhhlahhhh!!!! as dumb as it looks, this is what i came up. Blazer. Shirt. Pants. Blazer. Shirt. Pants. Two minutes and am all dressed up. Is the point of a capsule to get you out of a rut, or to dig you deeper in your own rut? Because i like my rut. That's all am gonna say for now.  

The end. 

Cakes...

My birthday this year fell on a Sunday, which happens to be the first day of the week here. What fun! This year, Jayson and me took a different approach on surprising each other on our birthdays. I think I started it. I'm taking credit for that. I managed to surprise him on his birthday last January by giving him his presents 3 days before his birthday.  Man, the look on his face. He was so happy. And on the exact day of his birthday, I called him and asked him to just drop by on our favorite coffee shop, order a latte and cheese cake, I got the candles. It was Saturday evening, he was still in his office. How fun was that?

March 15, Sunday

As I've said before, my birthday was on a Sunday, the busiest and the most frantic day of the week. At the end of the day, all I wanted  was to collapse. On our way home Yllac fell asleep. Amazing! Peace and solitude before my own bedtime??? Birthday wish granted. I may be tired but verbally I am on fire. So Jayson let me talk while he made us some tea. So i talked and talked and talked. I have to say, today most especially, that I have the best, most supportive, and most wonderfully, frustratingly fantastic husband and i love, love, love him. Just like all the things I am crazy about, I sometimes get all grouchy at him, but really seriously, I am the lucky one to have him. So Jayson my love, thanks for choosing this wicked queen over other princesses.

On the following evening, Jayson one-upped me by actually getting my cake. And so we've managed to do a celebratory cake blowing with Yllac's help of course. It's always so so so fun with Yllac's help.

ladies and gentlemen, my son. 

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Cannot wait for 36th!

35 Today! God Is Good...

Here I am folks, another year, another birthday. A year older, hopefully a year wiser. I was just looking over at my year and it looked packed.  As I've reflected on all that happened, my heart has caught up with my head and I'm so thankful. Just thankful. God is so good. He always is. Over the past years as a parent and an adult, there were times I'd start to feel as if I would just get past one obstacle to find another staring at me right in the face. Some of them weren't too difficult to overcome,  however some others would cause me to wonder how I'd ever get past them. And day to day, as God performs miracles in our lives, we are surviving, living, and most times thriving. The hard times also helped me come to the realization that good things often come hand in hand with the bad. Despite the trying times I came to be happier now than at any other time in my life, not to mention more sure of myself and contented. 

"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." ~ Philippians 4:12-13

...I love this passage. It speaks true to my life. Contentment is one's choice to live in peace. It’s a lifelong journey for me that requires regular self examination and an ongoing process of making peace with my self and to the things I have no control of. As long as I have the basic in my life, which to me is, my family and friends, my husband and Yllac, having food on our table and a home to keep us safe, (and internet of course!) and to extend that to treating the people around me with kindness....so I think that covers it. While I hope for a better me, for now I am fulfilled with every single blessing in my life. 

This morning I woke up with a slight pain on my back. More white hair on my head and bags under my eyes. I am 35. I bought a hair dye last weekend and i promise myself to sleep early. Jayson hugged me so ever tight and kissed me like he's never kissed me before and pinched my butt just enough and called me sexy. I haven't brushed yet. Yllac sang me half of the happy birthday song while he ate his breakfast. He kissed me and said, "hug mama." A few minutes later my parents,  and my brother's family were on skype. They sang me a happy birthday. Half jokingly my brother said, "Ate, you're awake now at 5 in the morning?", and he laughed. He could not believe it. Neither do i. We've known each other since birth and i miss him so much. After saying goodbye, by six in the morning, Jayson and Yllac were out on the door and on the way to the school and office, and I am alone to finish what's left of my breakfast. And in silence i say a little prayer of protection for my boys and loved ones. God knows they are my life. I live for them. They are one of the many purposes of my life. They made me so happy. My favorite part of the day is to wake up and have breakfast together in our tiny home and go back home with them after the long hours of work. My life is simple, uncomplicated, not without a challenge, never perfect. I thank God for everything, for my life, for another year, another chance to create memories, to love more, chance to develop more friends, to continue to hope,  to forgive, to work harder, and to give back. 

Yay! Happy birthday to me. 

I Wish You An Awesome Weekend!

I couldn't think of any way to make my child happy and satisfied other than to take him  to a playground and play bubbles. Doesn't cost a thing too. Win win!

Happy weekend to you my friends. I wish you a well spent one.  

A Blink....

My big boy fell asleep in my arms like a baby after lunch today. I held him till my arms numbed. The millions of times he falls asleep on me seems so fleeting now, but I can’t imagine a day when my heart won’t long to have him in my arms. It's been a blink. Such a blur. A flash. Yllac just turned 4 last December. He is truly a joy in my life. He is also my hardest work. I pray for the next four years to pass a little more slowly, though i know the reality is that they will even go trice as fast. 

What Makes Me Terribly Happy...

Hi! 

March. What March? Honestly, December of last year felt like days ago. And recently Jayson, my silly husband, told me how much he misses my blog posts, one morning while we're having breakfast. Well, for somebody who considers himself my number one fan, he finally took notice that I haven't been blogging for a while now. Well, he said, he's been meaning to ask, and just do't want to touch that subject. I opened my mouth hoping for an answer and explanation but nothing came out. I was like, I don't know. I was all defensive really. I went on and on how busy I was and have no time. But after babbling for long It made me sad, considering how much blogging means to me looking back a couple of years ago. Or maybe I have changed. This growing up thing is so strange. I think, last year I grew up on three different times. 

And so the blog went silent for a while,  two apartment-moves later, as I focused on settling into our new life in Qatar,and integrating new routines and places and arranging the bits and pieces of the everyday into a system that worked for our family.  Truth is, It was a much-needed break. Another thing, I missed this space.  I missed this community with all my heart. 

So when Jayson said, I like it when you blogged. Something pinched in my heart. I do miss going here and just pouring a little bit of me. Focus on the good side of things. The beautiful things. On things that makes life so wonderful. Memories and stories that are fun to share. I mean, I have all the photos to back them up. 

So, for my first blog post for 2015, am gonna kick it off with the good stuff. I am doing my best to count all my blessings in life and hope to make a habit of it. I tried to compile a short list of it from last week and hopefully Ill add more to it as days goes by. Here they are...

1. Qatar's Winter. The cold wind starts to come to this side of the world by October. Although it's humid and scorching in the morning, you can feel the cool winds especially at night. Feels perfect these days. All day picnic on weekends. 
2. Realizing that what I thought was so hard years ago, didn't turn out to be so hard after all. 
3. Being able to surprise Jayson on his birthday last January. 
4. Yllac said he wants to visit his "DEN-TEETHS".
5. This super soft leather jacket I purchased from a random Pakistan vendor last year for a cheap cheap price. 
6. Warm paper coming out from copy machine.
7. Downsizing my shoes. Surrender never felt this good. 
8. Car ride conversations on the way home. And those "Hi Mama, missed you!"each time my boys pick me up from work. 
9. Empty laundry basket.
10. Thursday.

So, what makes you terribly happy?