IT'S GOOD TO BE HOME!

What can I say,

except that it's been busy around here!

As a "REPAT", I have immersed myself in things

that I never got to do in Dubai!

Things like painting, cleaning, gardening....

and I have honestly 

LOVED IT!

Well, except for the cleaning!  

But it's been fun digging in the dirt

and painting a room or two!

I am sooooo grateful for our downsized house 

with its downsized yard!

(Makes it all quite manageable!)

But the best part of being a "REPAT":

...When Jonathan gets home from work and 

tells me about his day!

...When Jas and Chloe drop by for a quick visit!
...When I see Shallie running through her back yard!

...When John's brother, Jimmy, stops in to catch up with us on his way home from Florida!

...When I get calls & texts throughout the day!
...When I attend my awesome Tuesday Night Yoga class!

...When I meet friends for lunch (with Shallie) and go 

walking on the Monon Trail! 

(which I'm about to do in approximately six hours!)

Yes, I miss my life as an EXPAT.

I miss Dubai and I miss all 

the awesome friends we made there.

But I can still say, 

(even though it's only been 2.5 weeks), 

that  

IT'S GOOD TO BE HOME!

HAPPY EASTER!

HAPPY EASTER, people!

John and I and Jon and Jas and Chloe and

SHALLIE, 

(and maybe CHEWY- I sure hope so),

are heading north to

K-town

to spend Easter Sunday with

FAMILY!!!

This will be our first holiday as

repatriated expats

and we get to celebrate it with

FAMILY!!!

Wishing each and every one of you

a blessed and 

HAPPY EASTER!

THE DAY OF RECKONING!

When expats

repatriate back to their home country,

look out their window

and see this.....

....they know it is

THE DAY OF RECKONING!

John and I

immediately began questioning how the contents

of all these boxes

(also known as our "air shipment")

were going to fit in our downsized home!

We are happy to report that 

everything is put away,

but are still wondering if our camel will

survive the chill in the air!

We shudder to think what we will do

when the 20 foot container

arrives!

GOOD NEWS * BAD NEWS

GOOD NEWS!

(We ordered beer with lunch at a little cafe!)

BAD NEWS! 

(This isn't white sand from the Arabian Sea, people!)

OH JOY!

Today I joined a gym.

OH JOY!

It's a necessity after living four years in

DUBAI!

OH JOY! OH JOY! OH JOY!

JET LAGGED AND FANCY FREE!

How do we like being home?

If we could stay awake long enough, we'd tell you!!!

THE LAST HURRAH IN DUBAI!!!

Oh, the joys of jet lag!

One huge benefit, however, is the time I have been given

to catch up editing and posting pictures!

MY LAST HURRAH IN DUBAI.....

is now another check mark on my Bucket List--

DIVING WITH THE 

SHARKS AND STINGRAYS

in the DUBAI MALL AQUARIUM!

Yvonne and I are about

 to enter the bowels of the aquarium!

YIKES!

We are soon joined by our fellow divers,

Wendy and Janette,

and proceed to sign our lives away!

Be sure to read the first line of the form, people!

YIKES!

Yup, we just agreed to swim with the

SHARKS and STINGRAYS!

YIKES!

This is the view from the mall --

let me just tell you, it was way different inside the tank!

A group of our friends came to watch....

Watch what?  Who knew!

YIKES!

It was beautiful deep down in that water!

And then a shark came to visit!

YIKES!

And another....and another....and another!

YIKES!

Take a close look at those teeth, Internet!!!

Are those some 

gigantic chompers or what?

YIKES!

I LOVE this picture as it shows

the four of us diving inside the aquarium

and it shows the reflection of all of our friends who

were watching!

I'm happy to report that no

SHARK or STINGRAY

had us for lunch!

Speaking of lunch, we all gathered afterwards

and enjoyed a great lunch together

in celebration of our survival!

Thank you ladies,

(and sharks and stingrays),

for making my 

LAST HURRAH IN DUBAI

a fantastic memory!

WE MADE IT!

After a seven hour trip from 

DUBAI to MUNICH,

and a ten hour trip from

MUNICH to CHICAGO,

and a one hour trip from

CHICAGO to INDIANAPOLIS.....

WE MADE IT!!!

And I'm happy to report that 

SHALLIE

did amazing on all of those flights!

As long as she sat on my lap (in her carrier)

she was PERFECT!

When we arrived at the Indianapolis Airport,

she stood guard over our bags

while I sorted out our missing luggage!

(Not to worry -- both pieces were delivered the next day!)

She may have been all tuckered out, 

but she was a real trooper!

And what a great way to come home!

Thanks, Jill!!

It's hard to believe our

HOOSIER LIFE IN DUBAI

is over after spending four wonderful years there!

But it's great to be home!

Last night, Jason, Chloe, Chewy and Jonathan

came to dinner (we grilled out...woohoo) and

IT WAS AMAZING

to be together at long last!

However, SHALLIE and CHEWY 

need to learn to use their inside voices!

WE MADE IT!

WE MADE IT BACK TO THE GOOD 'OL US of A!

WE'RE LEAVING ON A JET PLANE!!

I've got SHALLIE'S bag all packed and ready to go.  check

I've got my bags all ready to go.  check

We grabbed a taxi 

and are on the way to the airport.  check

IT'S REALLY HAPPENING!

So long DUBAI.

So long DUBAI FRIENDS....

I'm sure gonna miss every single one of you!

USA, here we come!!

Yes, 

WE'RE LEAVING ON A JET PLANE!

BEACH MALL BREAKFAST!

Yes, Lufthansa pilots have been on strike which delayed my trip back to the States.....
but I can't think of a better place to be delayed!
Two additional nights at the Marina Marriott -- not too shabby!
Two additional days in SUNNY Dubai -- I'll take it!
Two additional days shared with special friends -- awesome!

 I checked out of the Marriott this afternoon,
picked up SHALLIE 
from Woof,
and checked into the pet friendly
GRAND HYATT RESIDENCES!
Fingers crossed, we'll be on our way back home
first thing tomorrow morning!
Until then, I'll recap yet another Dubai "last."

If I haven't convinced you yet that 

THE BEACH MALL

is where it's at, perhaps these photos will help!

Like I told you before,

it is an AMAZING PLACE!!

We tried out Leopold's for breakfast with SANDRA

and it was wonderful!

Good bye Sandra, let's keep in touch!

Then we had a cup of coffee with our friend,

RAGHDA,

who was in town visiting from Kuwait.

Good bye Raghda dear, let's keep in touch!

Our first breakfast experience at 

THE BEACH MALL

was mixed in with some of our "lasts"!

NEVER CAN SAY "GOODBYE"!!!!

SHALLIE

sure is ready to fly to her new home in

INDIANAPOLIS!

LUFTHANSA,

on the other hand, has a different idea!

Due to an airline pilot strike, our flight has been delayed

until April 7th.

Never can say "Goodbye"!!!!

...AND YET ANOTHER "LAST"!!!

I attended 

MY VERY LAST 

MARINA Gals! THURSDAY COCKTAILS

last week.

(Less the cocktails!)

We met at the brand new

BEACH MALL

at Leopold's of London.

No alcohol was served, but we enjoyed a delightful

afternoon tea!

(And yes, JA, we all survived just fine!)

Afterwards,

some of the Marina Pals (our husbands)

joined us for dinner at

WAVEBREAKERS.

This was a special moment shared by

RON and JOHN.

(Nope, don't even ask!!!)

We sure enjoyed our final

DINING WITH SPOUSES....

...and just look at what happened after dinner!

OMGoodness, 

I thought the MARINA Gals! 

had organized this for

JOHN and I!!!

Hahaha -- it was actually a celebration at the 

Meydan Beach Club

at a party put on by our very own

 Sheikh Mohammad!

Yes, it was yet another "LAST"

....and it was certainly a memorable one!

POOLSIDE DINNER PARTY SEND OFF!

 

Last Friday night,

our good friends, Yvonne and Gary,

hosted a going away party for us and

for Susan and David Fisher.

It was



an absolute

blast!!!

 



We are certainly

going to miss

                                       
                                    these folks!



 

The MARINA Gals! and

and their MARINA Pals!

-- we're sure going to miss you!!

 



And we'll miss the lights of the Marina as well!