I now have ADSL at home!
That means video will be returning to the blog!
It also means we can TALK ON MY VONAGE NUMBER! No more watching the minutes, counting the riyals! Give it a try (after you check the time here)!
817-718-0199
Tip of the Day: Most mobile phones and PCs have widgets that will display clocks for different times zones. I am GMT +3, in the same time zone as Riyadh (barely). My PC at work shows me two clocks, one for local time and the other for US East Coast time. My phone has half a dozen clocks going at once.
In other news, Harry ate most of the remaining 2/3s of a chocolate sheet cake last night when I was in class. He vomited most of it up today (I got a worried call at 11am from Upul: "Ma'am, someone threw up on the carpet, the small carpet by the door." Me: "Um, that would be Harry. He pulled food off the stove last night when I was in class." Upul: "Was it chocolate cake, ma'am?" Me: "Um, yeah, that's exactly what it was. Just toss the rug outside and I'll clean it when I get home tonight." Bless his heart, Upul carted the rug to the outside hose and rinsed off most of the yuk.) Harry is still recovering--hardly enough chocolate in a Betty Crocker sheet cake to be a problem but it sure was a large volume of food. He will be on short rations for a while until his system clears out. I've now got a large sign on my door with this question: Is there food out on the stove or counter?
And I must brag a bit. Last night Madame Hella, my French instructor, had the class give me an ovation (accompanied by a "superb!" from her) for my pronunciation of the conjugation of the verb etre (to be): je suis, tu es, il est.... I have been practicing and practicing those horrendous French vowels. I probably sound truly retarded most of the time because I sound out the words, even the simple ones, so slowly. I'm trying to build muscle memory for the darned oo's and ee's and all those crazy nasals. Madame Hella later said, oh, you have taken French before, I think. I said, yeah, THIRTY FOUR YEARS before.
I was brought up short today by a comment a coworker made. We were discussing our frustration over the lack of progress in our current projects--but then he said, wait, we've only been in charge of these projects for what, four weeks? We've actually made tremendous progress! Then I realized I've not even been here for 3 months. Everyone seems amazed at how quickly I settled in both at home and at work.
Part of that is sheer cussed stubbornness. Part of it is, well, what the hell else would you do? If you lurk in your apartment and never do anything, you'll hate it here and leave in six months. But I've just thrown myself into this adventure--taking French lessons, buying a car, dancing at parties--and it seems like I've been here for months and months already.
7 comments:
Adventures..adventures..adventures!
That's the way to live life and I'm proud of you.
Hope little Harry's recovering well. He's really into desserts..first the pecan pie and now the chocolate cake. Did Mimi help him with the cake, as she did the pie? Don't dare drop or leave anything out around here. All four dogs are on alert at all times to anything that hits the floor or is in reach.
VAMom
Yes, Mimi certainly helped him. When I got home, she was running around the house joyously tossing the foil that had covered the cake pan into the air. Harry hunkered down on the dog bed with a guilty air but Mimi happily ran into the kitchen to show me everything--crumbs and icing smeared into the rug, tooth scrapes on the pan (she gave it a few licks but that was all for show--there was nothing left!). Her belly was full of cake but nothing like his.
I think Harry also likes pumpkin bread if I recall correctly ;-)
Bravo Mlle Apperson!!!!
G
That red type on grey has given me a headache!! Took me longer to read that than the rest of the post!
Sounds like Harry is the instigator when it comes to food! How does he reach it? It brings to mind that story of the fox terrier that rolled a chair over to the counter to get the yeast rolls...or am I combining 2 of the funniest stories of my life?
Good thing you are going to be caught up on the french. Think maybe I should invest in some frech lessons for the daily commute - what do you think?
-DSL
oh yeah, do you have a skype ID yet?!
Not gonna do skype, sorry.
Yeah, the red type did come out pretty annoying but I decided to leave it. Sometimes you just have to make a decision and move on.
I did a job interview via Skype a few weeks ago. It was very nerve wracking. Don't know if I'd do it if I didn't have to.
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