Car Shopping .... Eastern Addition

Pam and Dave have been car shopping in Saudi Arabia.  The process has been VERY entertaining for them and they are now the proud owners of a Toyota Landcruiser.  We call those "land-crushers" at Casa de Goetz and Mark was worried about them keeping gas in the tank of such a gas-guzzler until I reminded him that they ARE living on the Arabian peninsula .... they just GIVE gas away for FREE over there!!!  My folks were kind enough to share a few pics to help all of us, back at home, experience the Eastern addition of car shopping!

Welcome to Auto Row of Yanbu:














Here is your selection - hope you wanted something in white:

You can rest in the waiting room while the paperwork is being drawn up:

Expansion Team

Team-Goetz is proud to announce the impending expansion of our Ball Club .....

We anticipate the debut of our very own Farm League in late September!

While several fans had expressed hopes for fast-pitch softball, current and unsubstantiated reports indicate baseball is a more likely outcome.

helpful documents

This little gem is a good read .... and I particularly like the use of CAPITAL LETTERS FOR EMPHASIS!

Good thing neither of my folks has glaucoma or things could have gotten dicey for their treatment plan!

the countdown has started ....

We've been waiting for it and it has finally arrived ..... Mom's Visa!!!!!

No set departure date as of right now, but we anticipate mid-April. 

Stay tuned for plans for a WILD Going-Away Party!!!

David offers words of advice ... to David!

I've been in my current job for almost 5 years.  It's a great job and I am blessed to have it.  However, there are days when I would like to run screaming from the building.  And remember - I have a really great job!  So I can only imagine that for my father starting a new job, with new supervisors and new employees, in a foreign country ..... well, it must feel like a daunting situation.  I'm not wise enough to offer appropriate words of encouragement in this area.  So I have turned to my friend David - yeah, I'm totally on a first-name basis with King David!  The man was a devoted servant of God, a warrior, a husband and a poet.  And David didn't always have it easy and he didn't always do the right thing.  But he always had a way with words:

“Then David continued, ‘Be strong and courageous and do the work.  Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you.  He will not fail you or forsake you.  He will see to it that all the work (related to the temple of the Lord) is finished correctly.’ “

-        1 Chronicles 28:20

For me this means that every day we have to do the work, no matter how hard the task before us might seem.  God will help you with your work.  God will help you complete the task.  Any task.  So I'll keep working and y'all out there keep working too and together, with help from the Lord, all of our work will be finished correctly!  Or at least yours will.  Mine is usually a hot-mess of spreadsheets, white-out and notebooks with cookie crumbs smashed in between the pages...

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!