A Win For the Lady Rams!

Last Wednesday the VCUQ Lady Rams had a win over Texas A&M Qatar.  It is cause for celebration because the girls haven't had a win yet this season.  You can imagine the excitement after the game on the part of the girls and Coach Brett.  When the players called an extra practice earlier in the week to prepare for this game, Brett wasn't as enthusiastic as he should have been, but it really helped, I think.  Another factor in the win had to be the addition of our little white mascot Dixie (our new puppy) who stole the players away from the pre-game pep talk but gave them lots of good luck licks. Even though she and I left before the game finished (because apparently dogs aren't allowed in the student center, but dogs aren't allowed anywhere in Qatar, especially parks, but falcons ARE allowed in the cabins on Qatar Airways), Abbey stayed on to finish taking pictures.

This team has heart, that is for sure.  They push each other and they push their coach. Sometimes they are disappointed when their hard work doesn't pay off or they don't get to play as much as they would like to, but when there is finally a win to advertise, it all seems worth it.

Having said that, Coach Brett is still planning on showing the team a clip from the movie "A League of Their Own" where Tom Hanks says, "There's no crying in baseball!"  Just like Tom Hanks' character is a little out of touch with his feminine athletes, Coach Brett might be slightly clueless about the emotion women athletes have to muster in order to compete, but he is learning, along with the Lady Rams, about what it takes to be a team, win or lose.

Abbey's Biathlon

Abbey participated in a biathlon last week during P.E.  The ASD P.E. Department held one last year, and it was such a hit with parents and students, they decided to make it an annual event.  This is supposed to help the students get prepared and motivated to participate in the triathlon that they hold in the spring for parents and students.  I don't know if Abbey came away ready to take on that kind of challenge, but she really pushed herself, buddied up with her friend who was feeling reluctant, and came away proud of her finish time.

I am just amazed at the wonderful programs The American School of Doha provides for our students.  They really build strength, confidence, talent, and determination, and I'm not just talking about the P.E. department.  Thanks, ASD for pushing our children and providing such a positive "American" atmosphere for so many blessed students to learn!

Writer's Block

I have been in a funk lately with a bad case of writer's block, so I thought I would whip out my handy Writer's Notebook that Abbey gave me for Christmas last year (as in 2010) and get my writing juices flowing.  Poetry always does it for me so here is a rough draft for today. I'm publishing it so that I will have some accountability and motivation to keep writing, oh, and so I can go through these simple steps of the writing process that Abbey has so thoughtfully provided in the front of my notebook.  Man, I love her!

SANCTUARY

When you're not here
There is
No real estate for me to settle,
No foundation to build on,
No firmament to spread my roots.
So I wander from room to room,
From thought to emotion to
Distraction.

Slowing my breath down is difficult
And so I am shallow in my
Inhilations,
Expectations,
Celebrations.
They are all diminished and
Cautious with calculations
And measured pleasure
Since my horizon has no sunrise until
You
Step through the threshold and
Pour your
Cemented soul next to mine.

Then the tranquil nesting can resume
With brilliant plans of grand designs
For modest home improvements,
Well overdue upgrades and
Mindful interior expansions.

Please don't confuse -
The solitary solace is needed.
But when the paint has finally dried
And the inspections are complete
Then is the time for cooperated
Ebullient efforts to
Slowly take over so that the
Structure can stand in balance and beauty,
In tandem with all the individual
Nail gun wounds smoothed,
The insulation in place
Against extended harsh elements,
So that the hoped for sunset can be
Miraculous and unfettered
Through the picture window of our
Sanctuary.

VCUQatar Women's Basketball 2011-2012

It's basketball season already and this one proves to be another building year at VCUQ. The girls' basketball team lost quite a few players from last year who graduated, but change and new challenges are constant.  On to victory, right?

Speaking of changes, head coach Jesse Ulmer stepped down this season to devote more time to his newest and most important occupation of being a new dad.  Congratulations to Jesse and Felicity and welcome to sweet little Dakota Lilly!  Jesse will be missed tremendously.  He has been the fire under these very inexperienced players for the last few seasons and, along with his wife Felicity, has built this program from the ground up.  Brett now has the responsibility of carrying on and taking these women over new hurdles as the new head coach.

The Lady Rams started their season off this last Sunday with a game against The American School of Doha.  Now to understand why a university is playing a high school team you will need to read my previous posts about this remarkable women's basketball program.  These women have come so far and continue to amaze me at their strength, courage, and tenacity, even in the face of much more experienced opponents.  They started Sunday's game with five players and increased to six by the end of the first quarter.  That didn't give much room for resting players and rotating fresh ones in.  Their work was definitely cut out for them.

Yes, they were tired.

Since ASD has won every time these two teams have met, the girls were just hoping to compete with themselves and do better than last year.

There are a couple of new players this year and they have a little more experience than previous team members have had when they joined.  There was a positive spirit in the team the whole night and they kept fighting, even after one of the girls had to sit out most of the second half because of illness.

The excitement brought out the ASD gym cat who patrols the bleachers for snacks and entertainment.

Their goal was to hit the 20 point mark and this photo shows their last basket of the game, reaching that milestone.  They came up short in the end, but it was a good effort for the VCUQ Lady Rams.  Hopefully there will be more players at future games and some more wins to add to the record books.  I will keep you posted.  Go Rams!

Do Your Homework Before Moving to Qatar

If you are considering a job opportunity in Qatar please read this informative article about the dangers of working in Qatar.  I have seen this happen to too many of my friends.  There is a definite risk one takes when coming here and working for the Qatari government or a Qatari based company.  Do your homework and contact former employees to find out what their experience was like.  There are many who have good working experiences here, but the few who don't have a TERRIBLE situation that is not easily resolved.  We are blessed because Brett works for VCU in Virginia and they pay his salary.  They are the ones who will give him a release to leave the country when the time comes for us to move on.

Unfortunately, there are so many stories like the ones in this article and it paints a very bleak picture of employee's rights in Qatar.  I had a friend who had to escape the country when her exit visa was revoked because she complained about the government owing her thousands of dollars.  When the situation was finally over she just felt lucky to be out of the country.  The $6000 or so that she lost became secondary, especially since she had a job waiting for her in London.  I think some people jump into a job here because they are enticed by the idea of not having to pay taxes (which is most often a myth because we DEFINITELY pay U.S. taxes) and the high salaries they can earn.  It is a gamble that sometimes goes wrong.  It is always good to know what cards the other players hold if you are going to gamble so make sure everything is spelled out.  Sadly, many divisions of the Qatari government as well as Qatari individuals are creating a tarnished worldwide reputation of unethical business dealings and it will eventually have an impact on this small country.  If it continues I don't know how they are going to get all the projects finished for the World Cup 2022.  Remember - eyes wide open.

Photo of the Week

I bought this interesting item at Carrefour last week.  I was intrigued and confused by the barbecue flavor being advertised with the picture of two strips of bacon underneath.  The tag line that says, "with Vitamins" just makes me giggle, especially because vitamins is capitalized.  So I can convince myself that this is a health food item, right?  In Utah there is a potato chip company named Clover Club.  I wonder how they would feel about this competitor?

On a related note, have you heard the rumor going around Doha that Qatar will soon have pork products for sale?  Maybe as soon as January 2012.  They will only be sold to non-muslims, of course, but that will be a big deal if it actually happens.  I heard this rumor via facebook, so take it for what it is worth.  My friend, who is leaving Doha in January, posted that she went to turn in her liquor license at the one place in Doha where expats can buy alcohol (other than at the hotels) and was told that she might want to hang on to the license because pork is coming.  So I guess that means that buying it will require a liquor license?! Huh?  Maybe Katrina needs to give me a little more information on how it will all work. Either way, I really don't know what I am going to tell my Mormon bishop when he confronts me about being seen coming out of the liquor store carrying cases of products to my car.  It will all be in the name of the Relief Society Hawaiian luau after all. . .

I know they sell pork products in Dubai and you can get pork in some restaurants in Abu Dhabi, so this isn't unheard of in the Middle East, but it will be nice not to have to lug that frozen Easter ham labeled "beef" in my luggage after Christmas from the U.S.  Just kidding censors!  Calm down.  I would never do that, but I do know people who have.  And just so you know, the unique corn snack tastes nothing like barbecue or bacon.  In fact, it didn't taste all that much like corn either.  Ahhh, truth in advertising.

Abbey Turns 11 on 11-6-11

She has grown up so quickly and this last Sunday was just another reminder that our little girl is not such a little girl anymore.  It was her birthday and as usual it pricked my heart with memories.  I have always tried to tell each of our children, on their birthday, the story of their birth as their bedtime story - what happened on that day, how everyone felt, and what it was like to welcome each of them into our family.  This year, as usual, Abbey sat transfixed as I told her about her arrival on a cold, blustery November day in 2000.  She is in love with that story and especially in love with the part about everyone coming to adore her as they met her for the first time.  She looks worried when I tell her how she didn't breathe on her own at first and I had to tell her to breathe.  She gets a big smile when she hears the part about how Ben was the first one to hold her after Brett and I did.  Then she giggles when I tell her how nervous he was and was afraid he would drop her.  She always looks surprised when she hears how Kristy held her and told her that she was beautiful and perfect.  And the story goes on from there.

At Halloween Abbey got accused of being too old to trick-or-treat by one of our neighbors, but she just smiled and held out her bag anyway.  She has often been expected to act older than she is because of her tall, long-legged frame.  When she told me about the comment from our neighbor I wanted to go to his door and explain how wrong he was but I didn't.  I did get a little more upset about it than I should have though.  I guess you probably know why . . . well, Abbey's birthday was only a few days away and I was going to argue with anyone who put my baby in the "too old" category for enjoying any holiday as a kid.

Well, her big day didn't turn out to be very exciting because Brett and I were in the middle of dealing with the flu and all its fun.  Brett mustered up enough strength to take Abbey and two of her friends to the movie, and all she wanted from me was strawberry pancakes for breakfast and a red velvet birthday cake. Ha!  Easier said than done, but I was going to do all I could not to burst her bubble of innocence and confidence in me.  I was going to make that breakfast and bake that cake, even if it killed me, and it nearly did.  My flu tried to turn into pneumonia the next day, but some well-timed antibiotics staved that off luckily.

The pancake breakfast turned out okay, but as you can see from the pictures, the cake wasn't pretty.  (And you must know that it takes a confident woman to publish these photos on the internet among all the perfect Suzy Homemaker fantasy blogs.) The recipe I used was from a reliable internet source but sometimes, no matter what, the whipped cream (that is essential in the frosting recipe) in this part of the world cannot be counted on.  But being the wonderful girl Abbey is, she took it all in stride and called it her most memorable avalanche birthday cake ever.  Then she told me that her birthday wish when she blew out the candles was going to be that her mom and dad get well.  BIG points scored with that one!

A special thanks has to go to the Straight family for wanting to be in on the festivities and Skyping with us so they could help sing "Happy Birthday" and Jalisa could cheer Abbey on as she tried to blow out the candles.  Thanks, Jim, Jennifer, Jalisa, and even Sammy the cat for being our chosen family even while we are so far away.

Speaking of how wonderful Abbey is, I have to hand it to her.  She lives around expat kids who get a birthday party every year along with too much of everything else.  Maybe it's because their parents are trying to compensate for not being able to live at "home", or maybe it is this way in the states as well and children are just overindulged, but whatever it is, these kids are SPOILED.  Brett and I have been determined not to let that happen with our Abigail, so the birthday party is one thing we have held back on.  Our older kids had maybe three birthday parties each the whole time they were growing up and that was plenty for them, for me, and especially for our budget.  Even though our budget is a little better off these days, we have told Abbey that she isn't going to have a big party every year with her friends.  She isn't happy about it but she understands and doesn't complain.  In fact she gets involved and plans her own birthday activities.  When Brett and I suggested we all go to the movies she said, "No offense guys, but I really don't want to hang out with adults all day on my birthday."  Yeah, Abbey!  I love it when my children know what they want and stand up for it.  I hope she continues to be excited about and immersed in writing the rest of her "story" as she grows up.  She is extraordinary and I continue to sit back in amazement as she conquers her world.  And Mr. So Wrong Neighbor out there . . . Abbey will let you know when she is done with trick-or-treating, but luckily, this wasn't the year.

November is Diabetes Month

Take THAT Diabetes!  Happy Diabetes Month Everyone!  Remember to wear blue on Fridays to show your support.