Monday, September 25, 2006
In the states
Well, no pictures this time. Been way too busy though. We landed on Thursday the 7th at 9:15pm. Michelle, Chris, Jon, and Preston met us. It was great! We went to bed around 11:00pm. Got up the next morning and went looking at houses. Thought we found one and put an offer on it. We then left for Houston to see Jay and Danielle and my cousin Polly. Oh yes, and to find a dress for Jay and Danielle's wedding. We visited with Pam, Gerald, and Mom that evening. Danielle had to go home to do last minute things for the wedding so we didn't get to see her till we got back home. We went to see Jay on Saturday. They have a great 3 bedroom, two bath apartment. I could live in it. Pam says she needs to sell the house and move into one like it. LOL! We visited then went to eat out. After that we said good bye to Jay and went back to Pam's house. I was wrong, that was on Friday evening not Saturday. Saturday morning we got up and headed into Houston to go shopping. Pam, Mom, Gerald, Mike and I. Gerald was a trooper. He wanted to go and did but didn't feel very well. He hung in there though. We shopped and shopped. Got three dresses for Danielle to give the ok to and headed out to eat and then back home to Pam's. We ate every meal out while we were there because we got to Pam and Gerald's house the same day Pam and Mom did, so there was no food in the house. It was nice not having to cook and do dishes. Pam had been at Mom's for a month while she had her pace maker put in and was recovering. She missed my cousin's wedding but was determined not to miss Jay's. They were just a few weeks apart. We stayed at Pam's and visited till Monday. Now remember we haven't gotten to rest at all since getting in so we do fine till the sun goes down. If we aren't doing anything but sitting around watching tv or something we are out cold. LOL! It was nice seeing Nate while we were there too. He was busy working but most people do.
We got home on Monday afternoon. While gone at Pam's we found out that the house we made an offer on was turned down. We also found out that they couldn't be out of it till October at the earliest and we wanted to get everything done while we were here this time. Our house has already sold.
We looked at more houses on Tuesday and Wednesday. We found another one we liked, so we bid on it and we got it. During all of this we were getting ready for the wedding. We visited with Danielle and I finally took time to go look for shoes for the wedding on Saturday on Thrusday or Friday. I can't remember now. That was the first time I really had a chance. Mike's parents got here on Wednesday so we got to visit with them too. We all headed out different directions before going shoe shopping and getting the tuxes fitted for Mike and Jon. Jon had to leave early because Rachael's parents flew her in for the weekend so she could go to the wedding. It was great. It was great getting to see her and Jon loved for sure. We left the tux place with tuxes in tow and went to the mall to buy some shoes. Got them in less that 10 minutes. Never have I bought a pair of dress shoes in such little time. We then met up with Mike's parents and went to Michelle and Chris' to see Preston and his parents. LOL! His great grandparents bought him a Cajun baseball cap and he needed to try it on. We visited for a bit and then went home.
It is now Friday evening and we are all gettin ready for the rehearsal and the dinner. Everything went really well. Even the meal was good and everyone got to visit. Nate didn't get to come because he had too much work to do. Jenny and one of her roommate's, Katrina got in town just as the dinner was ending, but just in time to eat before everyone left, so that was nice. We were all exhausted by then and we went home and went to bed. I think most everyone else did too except for the bride, the groom and their attendants. They all went out to have a good time and visit.
The big day went really well. Everyone got ready and there on time. It was just beautiful. Jay and Danielle looked so nice and so in love. It was really special. Chris did his part in the wedding and everyone loved it. The reception was full of fun and laughter. The music was good, the food was great and fun was had by all. I thought for a while we might have to leave before the bride and groom. They left though and we all had fun throwing rose petals at them. We then went back in and watched people dance for a bit longer and then left. We were exhausted again. Sunday morning we got up and went to eat breakfast and visit with my cousin's, Buddy, Becky, Keith, Lucy, and Layne. We had a nice visit and then had to hurry back home so other people we invited to come by could come on over. Rick, Pam, Monica and Lewis came over and Mike's parents came over too. We all had a good time visiting. After church was over Pam, Gerald, Jenny and Katrina stopped by too. Michelle, Chris and Preston stopped by for a few minutes also. Everyone was there at the same time for a bit. It was nice. Everyone started leaving real soon after that. After that is was just Mike's parents and us. We had a nice time visiting. I forgot Jay and Danielle stopped by while everyone was there too. They picked up a few things, visited and then headed out for Danielle's Mom's to pick up the rest of the gifts. Jay called later when everyone was gone except for Mike's parents and said they needed us to pick up some gifts and bring them to our house. Mike's parents left a little later. It was so nice gettting to see so many people in such a short time.
We got things going on the house we are buying and then went to Houston again to take the gifts to Pam's so she could keep them for Jay and Danielle till they got back from their honeymoon. It was nice getting to see Pam, Gerald and Nate again. It was so nice of them to keep everything for them. We went to their house one day and came back the next. Then back to start packing things up to move. The movers will be here on Tuesday morning early. They have permission to unload over at the new house at 10:30am and then we will close on the houses and 2:oo and 3:oo pm. Then it will be time to unpack. We leave for Doha on the 28th. Can't say we have done nothing while we have been home, huh?
I will say it again, it was great to get to see everyone. We only got to see Mike's Aunt Dorothy for a very short time, but it was nice to see her.
ALERT!! Jeff and Vanessa are at the hospital. Hope that baby gets here soon! Can't wait to hear all about Austin James when he gets here!
Gotta get busy!
Debbie
We got home on Monday afternoon. While gone at Pam's we found out that the house we made an offer on was turned down. We also found out that they couldn't be out of it till October at the earliest and we wanted to get everything done while we were here this time. Our house has already sold.
We looked at more houses on Tuesday and Wednesday. We found another one we liked, so we bid on it and we got it. During all of this we were getting ready for the wedding. We visited with Danielle and I finally took time to go look for shoes for the wedding on Saturday on Thrusday or Friday. I can't remember now. That was the first time I really had a chance. Mike's parents got here on Wednesday so we got to visit with them too. We all headed out different directions before going shoe shopping and getting the tuxes fitted for Mike and Jon. Jon had to leave early because Rachael's parents flew her in for the weekend so she could go to the wedding. It was great. It was great getting to see her and Jon loved for sure. We left the tux place with tuxes in tow and went to the mall to buy some shoes. Got them in less that 10 minutes. Never have I bought a pair of dress shoes in such little time. We then met up with Mike's parents and went to Michelle and Chris' to see Preston and his parents. LOL! His great grandparents bought him a Cajun baseball cap and he needed to try it on. We visited for a bit and then went home.
It is now Friday evening and we are all gettin ready for the rehearsal and the dinner. Everything went really well. Even the meal was good and everyone got to visit. Nate didn't get to come because he had too much work to do. Jenny and one of her roommate's, Katrina got in town just as the dinner was ending, but just in time to eat before everyone left, so that was nice. We were all exhausted by then and we went home and went to bed. I think most everyone else did too except for the bride, the groom and their attendants. They all went out to have a good time and visit.
The big day went really well. Everyone got ready and there on time. It was just beautiful. Jay and Danielle looked so nice and so in love. It was really special. Chris did his part in the wedding and everyone loved it. The reception was full of fun and laughter. The music was good, the food was great and fun was had by all. I thought for a while we might have to leave before the bride and groom. They left though and we all had fun throwing rose petals at them. We then went back in and watched people dance for a bit longer and then left. We were exhausted again. Sunday morning we got up and went to eat breakfast and visit with my cousin's, Buddy, Becky, Keith, Lucy, and Layne. We had a nice visit and then had to hurry back home so other people we invited to come by could come on over. Rick, Pam, Monica and Lewis came over and Mike's parents came over too. We all had a good time visiting. After church was over Pam, Gerald, Jenny and Katrina stopped by too. Michelle, Chris and Preston stopped by for a few minutes also. Everyone was there at the same time for a bit. It was nice. Everyone started leaving real soon after that. After that is was just Mike's parents and us. We had a nice time visiting. I forgot Jay and Danielle stopped by while everyone was there too. They picked up a few things, visited and then headed out for Danielle's Mom's to pick up the rest of the gifts. Jay called later when everyone was gone except for Mike's parents and said they needed us to pick up some gifts and bring them to our house. Mike's parents left a little later. It was so nice gettting to see so many people in such a short time.
We got things going on the house we are buying and then went to Houston again to take the gifts to Pam's so she could keep them for Jay and Danielle till they got back from their honeymoon. It was nice getting to see Pam, Gerald and Nate again. It was so nice of them to keep everything for them. We went to their house one day and came back the next. Then back to start packing things up to move. The movers will be here on Tuesday morning early. They have permission to unload over at the new house at 10:30am and then we will close on the houses and 2:oo and 3:oo pm. Then it will be time to unpack. We leave for Doha on the 28th. Can't say we have done nothing while we have been home, huh?
I will say it again, it was great to get to see everyone. We only got to see Mike's Aunt Dorothy for a very short time, but it was nice to see her.
ALERT!! Jeff and Vanessa are at the hospital. Hope that baby gets here soon! Can't wait to hear all about Austin James when he gets here!
Gotta get busy!
Debbie
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
SSA Breakfast
Hello! Well, I went to the SLB Spouse's Assoc. Breakfast yesterday. This picture today is not what we had for breakfast. I know people eat these little guys though. This as some of you know is what looks like our common blue birds and they sell them here in the grocery stores. They are some really tiny birds. Back to the breakfast. We had a good time. It was the first one of the year. The association starts its new year on September 1. It is held the first Monday of every month. They try to have an event later on in the month for us to do too. There is one man who attends. His wife works for Schlumberger. He is a house husband. Apparently everyone likes him. He and his wife have a little boy. I think he said Max is 6 months old. The rest of the people are women. My neighbor is the president this year. Her name is Penny. She is funny, nice and an on the go person. Her husband is from Graham, Tx. She is from another little town near Graham. She has 4 girls. Two older ones and two younger ones. Her next door neighbor is a really sweet woman named Grace. She is Indian. She is funny, but shy. I really enjoyed her. They came across our little compound and picked me up. We then went to another compound and picked up another woman named Moo. That is her nickname. She is from Indonesia. She says her real name is too long and hard for everyone to use. LOL! She is a real tiny women. She has two girls too. Hers are teenagers. She was on her 3rd day of being here. She is real nice too. We headed out for the hotel we were having breakfast at. Now they served breakfast or breakfeast as they spell it, but in my opinion it was brunch time. It started at 10:00am. Traffic was horrible, so we went on a bunch of back roads and went cross country a few times. She was a good safe driver though. We got there on time. If we had just sat in the traffic we wouldn't have gotten there till very late. There were 21 of us there. Mike's boss was there and she brought her little boy Max. He would not stay in the nursery but he was ok. He didn't let his Mom visit much but that was ok. Anyway, everyone who was new got a welcome bag. We got a book that I live by here in town. I need to give mine back so that they can give it to someone else that comes in new. We bought one a week or two ago. We got a magazine and a few other little things. We filled out information sheets and visited a lot. All of the new people got their pictures taken as a group. When it was time to leave the woman who was sitting on my left, Angela, who is from Aberdeen and pregnant rode home with us. She is a really nice person. She was there for the first time because she was on her first day of maternity leave. Her husband works for Schlumberger too. This is her first baby and is due on the 29th of this month. She had a doctor's appointment before the breakfast and visited the hospital too. We brought her home because she lived in the same compound as Moo. We had fun driving all of the back roads getting from one place to another. The lady that sat on my right was from France and I can't remember her name. She had only been here a week. She also has 2 teenaged daughters. She was kind of shy because she thought she didn't speak very good English. I thought she did pretty darn good. There were 4 or 5 women on the other side of the table that were all from Texas. One of them has a husband from Lafayette. His parents still live there. Ok, now that is about half of the people there and I know 5 of them by name. That is pretty good for me. I am so bad with names. About half of the people there were new. We all had a good time. Well, we leave tomorrow night for home. I have everything packed except for the last minute things. I don't think we are going to be over the weight limit this time. Mike wanted me to start packing 3 days ago and I told him no. I got most of it all packed yesterday afternoon in about 2 hours. I was washing too. I don't know if I will have to wash anything for him before we leave or not. I have to unload my purse into my computer bag, but other than that I am about ready. We have eaten just about every left over in the frig, so we are doing pretty good. Who knows what we will have for supper. I am going to go vacuum the kitchen and living room and then I think I will be done for today. This will be my first time to get to really take my time and check out the Amsterdam airport. Hopefully after that we will get to sleep a lot going over the water. LOL! I know I will be tired. We will have already been up for 24 hours when we leave Amsterdam. Sounds fun already, huh? LOL! Well, it won't be long now till we see a bunch of you. Have a great day!
Debbie
Monday, September 04, 2006
Hello! Just 3 days till we are home. Yesterday we did nothing. We didn't leave the house all day long. That is the first time for that I believe. Normally when Mike is off we go somewhere. Yesterday was independence day here and it was a holiday. I think Mike really enjoyed doing nothing for a change. We are trying to eat all of the stuff out of the frig so it won't go bad while we are gone. So far we are doing pretty good. We have some left over spaghetti sauce and that is about it now. I think I might just throw some spaghetti in to cook for tonight then I won't have to worry about supper and that will be one more left over gone.
I bet you haven't seen one of these signs in the states. LOL! Sorry the picture is kind of hazy, but it was a sandy day. Mike took this one going to Ras Lafan. That is the port their boats come in to. Camel crossings are common here just like deer crossings are at home. I have never seen a camel here yet. Hopefully we will go to the camel races when we get back. The season starts in October. Same thing for the horses. And the Asian games start in December so that will be nice. Hopefully it will cool down just a bit in the next month and we will get to do more things that are outside.
Today I go to my first breakfast with the Schlumberger wives. We are going to some hotel I think. My neighbor came over and invited me to go. This is a once a month thing. Hope I like it. My neighbor must not know a stranger. She is nice. I am glad she drives so she can just take me. Well, I better get back to the laundry. I am going to start packing this afternoon after I get back from brunch. I hope this is a buffet because I can choose better that way.
Mike thinks we are going to have a hard time packing, but I am hoping not. I am sure hoping I am right on this one. We checked and are supposed to be able to carry our computers on so that will help a lot.
You guys all have a great day! I'll let you know how the breakfast or brunch goes.
Debbie
I bet you haven't seen one of these signs in the states. LOL! Sorry the picture is kind of hazy, but it was a sandy day. Mike took this one going to Ras Lafan. That is the port their boats come in to. Camel crossings are common here just like deer crossings are at home. I have never seen a camel here yet. Hopefully we will go to the camel races when we get back. The season starts in October. Same thing for the horses. And the Asian games start in December so that will be nice. Hopefully it will cool down just a bit in the next month and we will get to do more things that are outside. Today I go to my first breakfast with the Schlumberger wives. We are going to some hotel I think. My neighbor came over and invited me to go. This is a once a month thing. Hope I like it. My neighbor must not know a stranger. She is nice. I am glad she drives so she can just take me. Well, I better get back to the laundry. I am going to start packing this afternoon after I get back from brunch. I hope this is a buffet because I can choose better that way.
Mike thinks we are going to have a hard time packing, but I am hoping not. I am sure hoping I am right on this one. We checked and are supposed to be able to carry our computers on so that will help a lot.
You guys all have a great day! I'll let you know how the breakfast or brunch goes.
Debbie
