BACK HOME IN INDIANA!

It was awesome being 

BACK HOME IN INDIANA

during the month of May!

I am far from a car buff, but I LOVE the

INDIANAPOLIS 500!

It is the perfect place for people watching!

This year, John and I 

went to the inaugural running of the

GRAND PRIX.

It was sooooo much fun!

The next weekend,

we went to the 500 qualifications.

AWESOME!

(And it certainly didn't hurt that the weather was beautiful!)

And then, on Memorial Day Weekend,

we gathered with dear friends

for a holiday cookout.

Yes, May in Indiana is a blast!
Today is the very last day in May and we've been 
BACK HOME IN INDIANA
for nearly two months!
Wow, time flies when you're having fun!

TUESDAY NIGHT YOGA CLASS!!

Reunited with my 

FAVORITE YOGIS!

And after class -- a Mexican dinner! 

It doesn't get better than that!

DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?

SHALLIE'S

favorite pastime has become....

...baby bird watching!!!

GIRLFRIENDS WALKING THE MONON TRAIL!

SHALLIE

and her girlfriends,

(Mitzy and Jenni),

took a long walk on the

MONON TRAIL!

And then they took a break,

sat on a bench,

and shared a story or two!

Oh yea, we humans walked it as well!

(Thank you ladies, for inviting us to join you!)

And after our walk,

(and a picture or two or three),

we all enjoyed 

our well earned lunch together!

Girlfriends (and Baby Hank) walking the Monon Trail!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

It was the 

PERFECT MOTHER'S DAY!

I got to spend it with two of my

FAVORITE PEOPLE,

for the first time in four years!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, everyone!*!

WEEKEND IN VIRGINIA!!!

No matter if it's the

ARABIAN SEA

or the

JAMES RIVER,

it's always fun to eat lunch by the water on a 

glorious spring day!

Add in a 
BLOODY MARY (or two)
and it's extra special!

Add in some

TURTLES

and the day (in my mind anyway) became

PERFECT!

Add in some

BUTTERFLIES,

some beautiful 

FLOWERS,

and some TIGGER time,
and our weekend in Richmond, VA 
was complete!

John attempted 
(note the word, "attempted") a

GROUP SELFIE...

...so we opted for photos taken the

old fashioned way!

Great seeing you, Joe and Scho!!!

OH INSHALLAH!!!

SQUIRREL ALERT!!!

Did you hear me, people?

I said,

"SQUIRREL ALERT!"

For the last time, people.....

SQUIRREL ALERT!!!

Oh INSHALLAH!!!

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!