Bad blogger...

When my mom mentioned that my aunt had asked if everything was okay in Damascus because I hadn't blogged, it was a sure sign that it's been far too long. In my own defence, it's sort of been a whirl wind since I returned, but let me see if I can recall what's been on the agenda in the last two weeks.

I left Saskatchewan late morning on Thursday, January 6th.  Flights to Damascus were, for the most part, uneventful.  Yes, there were delays.  Yes, it makes an extra long flight, but all in all I arrived in Damascus, safe and sound and only an hour behind schedule.  A funny note about my time in Toronto.  We were delayed due to weather.  Once we boarded the plane, we were further delayed because all the planes had to go to the de-icing area.  I thought it rather funny that we had to go to a special place to be de-iced.  I always remember de-icing occurring in Saskatchewan before we pull away from the gate.  Anyway, in Toronto there is the de-icing cue, followed by the runway cue, so we were two hours late leaving Toronto.

One good thing about Toronto though was the duty-free that I am sure was sent to me from Heaven.  I was mourning having left behind my limited edition Rider Whiskey and my Fantuz Flakes (no room in the suitcases, backpack, purse or anywhere).  However, the duty free had a huge display of Crown Royal.  So I bought one. And I brought it back to Damascus with no trouble at all.  Whoot whoot.

Friday night was bed time.  Sleeping through the night was somewhat of a challenge; in part because Ella quite enjoyed having her own plaything (read: my hair) back on the pillow.  Henry took no time at all warming up to a person (his person) back home for the night.  Since I've arrived, he's been super snuggly - I must say kitty snuggles are rather nice on a chilly night.  Henry doesn't like to be out of arms reach, so he's usually pressed up against me and should I move it causes him a great inconvenience.  For the first few days I was so tired I don't think I moved at all.  Now, however, I'm starting to set limits on just how little of my bed I am willing to use.  I have a king sized bed, for goodness sake - there should be enough room for me AND two kitties.

The next week is kind of a blur.  We were back to work on Sunday, January 9th.  It was loverly coming back to school and to the kids.  I didn't use Saturday as productively as I would have liked, which mean this first week had several later days for planning.  But soon enough I had my next weeks planned and was on my way.

Thursday, January 13 I finally got to have a reunion with my "family" in Syria.  Chad, Lindsey, Maggie and Yousef came over for supper.  It was probably the easiest supper I'd ever hosted - they brought all the food, I provided the table and beverages.  It was nice to have some time to hang out.  It's hard to believe just how crazy that first week was and how quickly it passed.

Week two was also quite a busy week.  The end of semester is approaching and as such, report cards are also due this week.  Now, I know that I'm a bit of an overachiever, but it just seemed to make sense that while we were asked to forward comments for the term last week, to also get my marks done at the same time.  I would have to say that good record keeping and staying on top of my marking makes that possible.  As such, I had my report cards sent, edited and re-sent by Tuesday of last week.  Now I get to focus on other fun things - like coordinating after school activities.  People ask how I manage to balance it all - it's all about prioritizing and organizing my day, I think.  At least I don't feel too overworked.

I hosted brunch for my "family" in Syria on Saturday morning.  This time I actually cooked - and when I say cooked, I mean coooooooked.  I'm sure that my brunch would give the Saskatchewan Hotel's brunch a run for it's money. Hee hee hee.  I prepared a few baked goods (cranberry muffins, banana bread and cinnamon buns the easy way) as well as an egg dish that was supposed to be a quiche.  It couldn't be a quiche because the Internet was down and my quiche recipe is in my yahoo mailbox.  Was quite annoyed.  At any rate, the eggy casserole was quite tasty.  Pancakes, strawberries and whipped cream (from a cow, not a can) were also on the menu.  All in all, a tasty treat.  Lindsey and Chad provided the fixins for Mimosas - we're quite decadent here :)

And now we're back to Sunday and another week of school.  On Thursday I will head to Kuwait for an extended weekend.  I have taken Sunday as a personal day and will return to Damascus later on Sunday night.  Looking forward to the trip to see friends - and get a few good work outs in.

Aside from that, I'm not sure there's much to report.  The Snowball is just around the corner.  Whilst in Kuwait I will look for a gown - maybe I'll be just as lucky as last time - maybe not, who knows.  We'll see what happens.  I am glad that January is nearing an end.  It's been a long, but good month. Glad to be back in Damascus. Feeling settled and rested (sort of).  Now to get back in to my regular exercise routine.

Talk to you soon.

Ty