I don’t know if these posts are necessarily the best, but I invite you to read a few that sound interesting…

November 14, Once You Know the Truth, Is it Something You Can Live With?

Can you imagine two responsible people with children, both so fed up with their job situation and employers but having no known future prospects…. handing in their resignations anyways?  Do you think it’s irresponsible of them? I don’t. I get it. … Continue reading →

September 22, A Journey of a Thousand Miles

I have been walking around for a year or so now telling a few people who’ve ever asked, that my dream job or what I would like to do when I retire from a real job, is to teach yoga.  Only problem was, I had never even taken a yoga class.  What a bizarre statement to make…Continue reading →

September 6, Sweet Nourishment

It was only last week our family was talking about the MRE’s we sampled back in 2003.  Easy enough to recall the meals.  Our life at the time, somewhat more difficult to digest. If you don’t already know and I … Continue reading →

August 30, Just One Thing

Even more than the 1st of January, September always seems like A NEW YEAR to me.  Everyone going back to school and work and whatever else life means to them after some play, relaxation and hopefully time away from the mundane.  … Continue reading →

August 22, To Have and Have Not

Two stories in yesterday’s Gulf Times caught my eye.  They illustrate the vast, vast difference in the haves vs. the have not.    On the FRONT page the first reports on Londoners not liking the summer’s intrusion into their neighborhoods at night.  … wealthy Middle … Continue reading →

August 20, A Different Choice

You can call me one of the lucky ones. Usually the heartbreaker, not the heartbroken. Winner of small things.  Box seats for the ball games, a ring, a watch, a box full of items from a craft bazaar (twice!). Having … Continue reading →

August 18, Not the Lack

Like Julia Roberts says in the movie Eat, Pray, Love, I want to go to a place where I can marvel at something. We go on holiday for a break. A change to our norm. A rest. An adventure.  Beautiful scenery.  … Continue reading →

July 27, A Time to Remember

The Newfoundland Battlefield Memorial Park contains a landscape such as I’ve never seen before.  We visited Normandy few years back.  To the cliffs of the D-Day landings.  Juno Beach.  Arromanches. The small towns like Caen where troops poured through.  This visit provided … Continue reading →

July 13, Look For It

Being ‘mindful’ seems to get a lot of press these days.  You know, ‘being in the present moment’.  All of that.  At least it is in the pages I visit….  I like this description of being mindful by Michelle Burford. …. Open … Continue reading →

July 7, They Like Me

I find it oh, so easy to get swept away with the feeling that “They Like Me”!   Instead of basking in someone’s compliments and letting my feelings of being wanted or accepted take over what I really should be doing when planning … Continue reading →

July 2, A New View Please

Every day, soon after I wake up and shower I open our bedroom curtains and see my neighbor’s house across the street.  Only our neighbors don’t live there any more. Wednesday night the family flew to China to start a new chapter in … Continue reading →

June 24, Sandcastles

Dear daughter and I were out to buy a gift for THE WEDDING this Sunday, along with some other errands that had to be done .  I looked earlier in the morning for a gift and luckily found a couple of options … Continue reading →

June 17,  I See You

Leaving dear daughter’s piano lesson yesterday her teacher, my friend, called out to me “Namaste” knowing I would be on my way to yoga class later in the evening. Dear daughter asked what Namaste meant. I said, To the best of … Continue reading →

June 16, Our Own Backyard

DH sat shocked and appalled early this morning, reading the latest news story out of Canada.  Our two teenaged kids joined us in the living room, eating their breakfast before the school day.  The topic of our morning discussion at … Continue reading →

June 13, Out of Touch

I’m having one of those Doha days and therefore complaining about it.  That I am continually on a scavenger hunt around the city for what I believe are quite simple items. Broccoli.  Some nice fruit perhaps.  Our preferred brand of butter.  Cheese, the … Continue reading →

June 4, Whew! So I’m Already Past That?

According to an article in the NY Times I should be about to enter the worst time in my life on the “happiness” scale.  In a survey carried out in 2008  Gallup asked 340,000 people between the age of 18 and 85 to … Continue reading →

June 2, Year of the Wedding

It feels like the Year of the Wedding.  I have not been to a wedding in more than 17 years but in the last week we’ve received two invitations to weddings, plus we were invited to another about 6 months ago.   … Continue reading →

June 2, Maybe One Day

Call me selfish.  Call me naive.  Call me stupid. Yesterday I posted in my FB status how I was loving life at the moment.  Working from home, being with our kids, getting to wear shorts and flip-flops all day….. Some … Continue reading →

May 30, A Pandol in the Parking Lot

Walking across the parking lot to go to yoga this evening, I happened upon an intriguing structure about 8 ft high and made of white paper! Upon closer inspection I could see intricate patterns had been cut out of the paper … Continue reading →

May 29, Old Scales, Long Gone

A drive down memory lane.     Yesterday we took a drive to Al Khor which is where we lived for the first 2 years of our life in Qatar.  To be precise, we lived in the Al Khor Community which is a company-built gated compound 5 min … Continue reading →

May 29, Lighten Up!

Youngest son thinks I am somewhat strange.  Let me change that.  He thinks I’m truly weird.  Well, lets just say that he believes that beyond a doubt I am the most peculiar person he’s ever known!  Probably, this belief  is partly due … Continue reading →

May 27, Moving On

Right now is the worst time of year around these parts.  It’s probably what it feels like back home when winter is settling in and you know there are months of cold, dreary, dark days ahead.  Here, the heat is becoming … Continue reading →

May 23, Good Advice, Not Taken

Expectations.  “Nothing creates more unhappiness than failed expectations.” As I’ve mentioned here before, there are many, many discussions between dear daughter and I with regards to relationships.  One of the pieces of advice I keep giving her is that you … Continue reading →

May 16, Play Nice

People behaving better.  Young children can be a prime example of ‘behaving better’, probably because from the time they’re born we’re constantly after them imparting our experience  and expectations upon them.  But what about our own behaviour? Thomas Friedman’s latest article in … Continue reading →

May 10, 11 Years &  Counting

Catching a plane, 6 May 1999 Boarding a plane in Calgary to come to Qatar with 3 young children little did I know what to expect or that I would still be here today, 11 years + 1 day, since the day we … Continue reading →

May 8, Who’s Watching the Kids

This is the playground in the compound where we live.  Each day the maintenance guys here clean up any mess, rake the sand and prepare it for the day’s use.  I noticed today there are now a row of plastic chairs … Continue reading →

May 7, What’s Wrong With This Picture

Take a look at the video below – it’s only a few seconds long.  (Be sure to have your SOUND on). and then this one….. I am in this park often but usually it’s for some excercise.  So I have my earplugs in, … Continue reading →

May 4, Our Fathers

It finally occurred to me what may have been the cause of Dear Daughter showing up bright and early in the morning in the living room, in her house coat, subdued and quiet before she started getting ready for school.  … Continue reading →

April 28, Just Do It!

I could learn a thing or two from our oldest son.  He has a couple of exams this week; today and Thursday.  On Monday, 30 minutes before we were to leave for school, he asked if he could have the … Continue reading →

April 13, Now That We’ve Cleared That Up

We’ve talked a lot with our kids about their going to University.  In fact, much of our holiday last summer was devoted to showing our kids around some Canadian Universities.  We live overseas so they have no clue as to … Continue reading →

April 11, He Knows What to Do

My son says I’m nagging him all the time.  Our oldest son is 17.  When he was 15 and even 16 I thought it was fantastic how he still seemed so connected to us.  To me.  But turning 17 seems … Continue reading →

March 28, Great Teachers

I’ve been fortunate to benefit from great teachers in my life, both at school and at work. I can also say I’ve had opportunity to experience just the opposite. Both had some level of influence with either my successes or my … Continue reading →

March 26, A Wise Sage & A Beggar

Or should that read A Sage and a Wise Beggar? In my first blog post, Pay Attention I noted that some people may think I have some real “pie-in-the-sky ideas”.  One of the things I believe, that some may not, is that there are signs given … Continue reading →

March 22, Arrested for Begging

Front page news today was a picture of five Muslim women arrested in Qatar for begging:  CID Arrests Female Beggars.  For me, a shocking picture and headline.  The story goes on to say that “The arrests were made as part … Continue reading →

March 14, Rules of Engagement

A headline reads “Call to respect culture” in the Gulf Times today.  In the article written about the  Doha International Centre for Interfaith Dialogue the Chairman of the DICID suggests community leaders should do more to better educate their compatriots on … Continue reading →

March 12, Speaking the Same Language

Yesterday, while driving home from afternoon activities we all had  a good laugh while dear daughter was ordering our pizza for dinner.  It’s not as if ordering pizza for our household is an easy task to begin with.  All five of … Continue reading →

March 9, A Matter of Convenience

I had to chuckle last night when I logged on to Facebook.  The first status update was from a former softball teammate who moved last summer from Qatar back to the US.  She was lamenting over no longer having a … Continue reading →

March 7, Schway, Schway

The experts say it takes 21 days to instil a habit.  Today is the 21st day since I started writing my blog and I do feel like it’s taken hold and become a habit.  I have a lot of free … Continue reading →

March 1, Grey Clouds Overhead

The day began with victory and celebration.  Being a proud Canadian, I decided to forgo sleep last night to watch the gold-medal-deciding Olympic hockey game between Canada and the US.  It started at 11:15pm here, ending shortly after 2am.  Canada … Continue reading →

February 24, Yes Life is Difficult

M. Scott Peck wrote in his bestselling book The Road Less Travelled, “life is difficult”. Yesterday I began writing about the never-ending trials and tribulations encountered while living in Doha. However when I drove into our compound late in the … Continue reading →

February 19, Helping Hands

It’s hard to imagine that on a weekend morning all three of our teenagers were up and out of bed before 7am. Dear daughter was being picked up between 7 and 8am to go camping with friends so it’s not … Continue reading →

February 18, Humble Pie

I thought I was doing quite well ‘paying attention’, noticing the world around me. It also seemed as though by slowing down and taking the time to notice, some nice things were happening. Well, I spoke to soon! Not about … Continue reading →

February 14, Pay Attention

My Gran was always saying to us in jest, “pay attention!” Probably the best advice she or anyone else could have given. I recently attended a seminar and workshop on blogging called Mudanawat. I was checking out one of my regular … Continue reading →