Snow Day!

For those of you living in areas that actually receive large amounts of snow on a regular basis, please ignore the ridiculosity of my hometown.  Seattle literally shuts down the minute white stuff starts falling from the sky.  The school where I work has actually closed early and sent students home because local media reported that snow was coming sometime later in the day!  If God ever sends manna back to earth, Metro busses will go to the limited schedule and otherwise sane civilians will mob the local Safeway .... seriously.

We had an honest-to-goodness snow day this week though.  With 4" of accumulation Mark and I were more than glad to stay home.  We slept in, made breakfast (i.e. - cooked bacon), drank coffee, watched more snow fall and then took the dogs out for some excercise.  We like to go down to the elementary school in our neighborhood where they can run wild on the playing field. 


For your viewing pleasure I present: Brodi and Bailey "gets" Arctic!

World politics - they're a riot!

Tunisia is rioting.  Egypt is rioting.  Bahrain is rioting.  Libya is rioting.  Yemen is rioting.

I participated in an anti-war riot when I was in 8th grade.  It was epic.  We left campus to walk from Tillicum Middle School to Sammamish High School and meet up with students who were marching to Bellevue City Hall.  At City Hill we were going to protest rumors of the national draft re-starting as a result of the Gulf War.  As 14 year olds, we had a lot at stake with that draft looming over our heads.  Sheesh.  When we were 2 blocks away from school I turned around.  Yup - I totally chickened out and went back to school.  Like I said, it was epic.  Mind you, I sat in detention later that week with all of the other transgressors and had to write a paper about my poor decision-making process.  As far as I can remember, my paper was horribly written and really whiny.  The central focus was that I had returned to campus and shouldn't be punished with the hooligans who had simply used the riot as an excuse to ditch school.  I knew for a fact that several of them didn't march anywhere; they just went home to play Super Mario Brothers!  So the fact that we received the same punishment was almost unbearable, but I digress ....

The riots in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf are an amazing reflection of the possible change any generation can have on their country and their world.  I've been checking in with my Dad and he is an "obsessive" follower of the media along with having an incredible sense of timing.  The man was in Arabia when the Ayatollah Khomeini took over Iran and on vacation in Kabul when the Russian Army rolled into Afghanistan. He's got quite the track record with historical events!  To date he is not concerned about any of these current changes having a negative impact on his job in Saudi Arabia.  So rest easy - things are quiet in Yanbu this evening!

international travel .... the Goetz version

Got to use my passport this weekend - just so you know that I am still my Father's daughter!  Of course, it was only to go across the Canadian border into Vancouver ... but it still counts as international travel!  Erin and I both wanted a stamp in our passports for the trip but the agent at the border was too busy giving Mark the stink-eye and asking Stein contradictory, repetitive questions about guns in the vehicle.  I never thought Stein looked shady or had that NRA-trigger-finger-appearance, but our particular agent was fairly convinced that this crazy American was attempting to bring fire arms across the border, eh.

                    

We stayed on Granville Island and enjoyed beautiful, winter weather.  Each day was crisp and clear, which allowed for beautiful views of the mountains surrounding the city.  And everything we ate (and drank) on the island was sooooo delicious!

                      

On Saturday night we ventured downtown to see Chelsea Handler at the Orpheum Theater.  She was hysterical and just as horribly irreverant as we hoped!

We spent one day walking along the Seawall and got to check out the new Convention Center, Canada place and the 2010 Olympic Cauldron.

As a group, we loved the Farmers Market on Granville Island.  We were there twice and have no pictures to show for it .... that is because we were too busy tasting our way through all of the stalls!

Gettin' all gussied up!

I got dressed up for a Valentine's date this year - some pretty sexy boots capped off the outfit.  But my Mama will be doing NO SUCH THING when she lands on Arabian soil later this spring!  We learned this week that she will need to wear an abaya while she is there.  That means that before she leaves the house, or goes anywhere in public, she will put on a long, loose-fitting robe over the top of her clothes.  She is not wearing a burqua - that is the full black gown with the veil over your head and face.  It's just the abaya, which often are very pretty or have lovely beading and sequins on them.  So while it is inconvenient to add to your daily routine, at least it's only the robe.  And in the meantime she can count her blessings: no one at the commissary will ever know that you spilled mustard on your shirt at lunch.  I say this as a person who usually has some form of lunch on my shirt.  I like to blame it on the kids I work with but the truth is that I have some "food issues" and eating at my desk everyday isn't doing me any favors!

   

Biker Gangs ...

We arrived in Saudi Arabia when I was two months old.  And we were there for two trips over the course of several years that finally brought us back to the US after I completed 1st grade.  I should tell you that 1st grade in an International School was great ... but that's because I had a posse.  Yup.  A gang.  We were called the "Q-Street Gang" and there were usually about 10 of us running around with missing teeth, cut knees and insane tans that meatheads from the Jersey Shore would die for.  But the important thing to know about my posse is my introduction.  I wasn't "jumped-in" like one of Dre's homies.  Nope.  I cried on the playground during my first day of Kindergarten and the cutest little Persian Princess asked me to play with her, subsequently making me her best friend.  That same girlie was my Maid of Honor in 2001, nineteen years later.  Now please keep in mind that I was the only kid on our street with a bike at the time.  And the bike definitely elevated my status temporarily, if nothing else.  So technically, we were a biker gang.  Which brings me to my point - I'm excited for Mom and Dad to spend time overseas again because you meet the greatest people when you step outside of your normal boundaries!  Love you like a sister Delshad!  Wonder who has that pink bike these days?

حبي لك ومثل شقيقة

Gypsy Children have .....

Gypsy children have gypsy parents of course!  After dragging a small child through several continents over the course of many years my parents' wanderlust has caught them again.  They are no longer content to enjoy vacations in odd places like Croatia or the Maldives.  They needed to be back IN it, living on the other side of the world.  So with much anticipation, a boatload of insomnia and some weird packing we have sent my Dad off to Saudi Arabia!  He arrived in Jiddah this morning and will travel north to Yanbu tomorrow - a search on Google Earth will show you the western coast of the Arabian peninsula, just across the Red Sea from Sudan.  My Mom will be joining him as soon as a Visa is issued for her.  Stay posted for updates on both of them and what life is like when gypsy children get left behind!