I’m a little under the weather, so I spent a good chunk of the weekend watching Game of Thrones reruns with Shannan.  I also booked a weekend trip with Haneefa — will tell you all about it in May — started looking up potential spots for Michelle’s and my next big trip (next school year), caught up with some friends not living in the UAE, and I ordered some things for our big family event this summer.  It’s been a weekend of reminiscing and planning.

In three months I’ll be in a beautiful cabin in Show Low, Arizona with the people I love, celebrating the best of what my family has become.  It’s crazy how many different corners of the world I find myself in throughout the year, and I still cannot believe how lucky I am.

That said, of course, I have plenty of moments where I’m feeling anything but lucky.  Take for example right now, I’m afraid to eat because my stomach is waging its own war, and, sadly, despite its refusal to house food the scale is also rebelling because she just won’t deduct the pounds.  What The Fat?

I guess if I’m going to feel crappy it’s a good weekend to do so since it’s dusty, humid and windy out there, but I’d rather be writing about playing at the beach or going to the gym or hanging out at the pool.  Inshallah I’ll do that next weekend.

But since I’m in a whiny mood, I can share some of  things I find not lucky  — especially since I’ve goofed around on Internet more than usual and scanned through the latest batch of “we’re coming in August” Facebook posts.   So, for the upcoming newbies and any of you who are tired of my “damn I’m lucky (but seriously I am!)” posts here’s some of my less pollyanna stuff to deal with:

• Cultural differences and language barriers sometimes bring up frustrating moments at work.  At the end of the day we all want to do the right thing, but sometimes our version of that clashes, and while it’s all part of the deal, sometimes I just want to yell “Puhlease can you just let me do it this way.”  I’m not saying I’m right, just saying sometimes I long for the days where I’m on the same page and alphabet as everyone else.
• Ditto for getting stuff done outside of work.  Sometimes my face and arms hurt from gesticulating and enunciating so much.  Hahaha those might be the only toned muscles in my body.
• Shaky paradigms — things change while at the same time some not so much.  It gets a little confusing sometimes.  But isn’t that a worldwide complaint right now?  Everything is changing while at the same time some of our old uglies are popping right back up again.  It’s a frantic Whack A Mole game, and I’m hoping we all come out winners in the end.

And, that’s all I’ve got for now.  Back to the bright side of things:   there’s always the next vacation to plan for!  Or, the next good thing — at work or play — to look forward to.  The good still outweighs the bad.  And…

Game of Thrones Season 6 AND Summer vacay is coming!  While I will sooooo miss my girls this year when they graduate, I’m also sooo looking forward to playing at home with my loved ones.  (not to mention all the fun stuff planned here for the next three months — you’ll never see or hear me complain about being bored).