The Road Less Traveled

Especially by ladies in spandex.

If felt quite liberating being out of camp in such a fashion considering where we are.

We went on one last Social Pace (meaning the guys didn't hammer it so the ladies could keep up) ride of the season. Everyone is packing up for the summer and some of us for good so we celebrated in Udhailiyah Cycling Club Style.

Our camp is surrounded by oil field roads. Some in excellent condition and others a bit pitted and ruddy and after 6 days of shamals the dunes have crept across parts of the road.

We rose before the sun and set out at 4:30AM. The wind was minimal, the dust low, and a commencing heat of 90 degrees for the 50 mile ride. Other than a camel crossing and a few photo stops we rode on an on passed nice garbage free dunes. There was the occasional dead goat dumping ground but thankfully the stinky microbe phase had passed.

By the end, even after drafting Chris most of the way home my legs were shot. I'm so glad the pack of wild puppies we passed decided not to charge because I'm not sure I could have out run them. Sad I know.

1600 calories later we ended with celebratory Krispy Kreme and some mango milk.

I was pretty much a waste of space the rest of the day but am so glad our hubbies took us out for one last ride.

Designed To Take My Money

Do You Remember This?

I couldn't pass it up on my first visit to the Expat hot spot Desert Designs in Khobar. It's an eclectic store of original hand made items, often made from reclaimed wood, and antiques from the Middle East and Asia. You can even custom order some exquisite pieces as some of my friends have done.

We came into town to meet Chris after he spent the morning in Bahrain. I decided it would be a great night to wash the little boy stink off of me and go out with some adults. The Reynolds suggested we try a Saudi Style restaurant where you sit on cushions, share all the food, and where utensil use is optional. The food was not bad but the appetizers were plate lickin' good. I resisted the temptation to actually lick the plate in mixed company but we did get as much as we could scrape up with the flat bread.

With only 15 minutes until prayer time we finished up and then I casually asked if anyone would be interested in just looking around Desert Designs knowing full well my girl Tiffany would want to go and the hubbies would just have to endure.....at least mine would.

With prayer time upon us we had plenty of time to browse. See, if you are already in the store they won't kick you out; you are forced to just keep shopping while the lights are dim. If you don't make it in you are out of luck for the 20-30 minute duration. Well, the prayer time marketing scheme worked this time because I fell in love with this chair. It is hard to find a chair that fits my 5'1" frame and when I sat down I felt like Goldie Lock as it was Just Right.

I love the style the shape the design. And even though Chris was convinced we didn't have a place for it I manged to find it two different spots it can call home.

Of course just like anything new in the house the boys fight over who gets to sit in it for scripture time. We decided that Zach gets even days, Ethan gets odd, and Graham gets the weekend. So when does mom get to sit in it?

That remains to be seen.

Whole Lot A Baking Going On

Sometimes I pleasantly surprise myself. Recently I baked this lovely loaf of bread. My mom makes Spinach dip then serves it in a round loaf of bread that has been hollowed out. Since that bread doesn't exist here I had to create it for a recent pot luck. See, Mom, you didn't completely fail me. I can do more than just boil water now.

The same week my Saudi friend and neighbor Haifa was asking me if I had a chocolate chip recipe she could have as the one she tried did not work. Not only did I have one but I invited her over to teach her how to make them. When she arrived I didn't even scream when answering the door this time. After unveiling we got right to work while Ethan and her son, a classmate played. The night before I had changed all the amounts from cups and tablespoons to grams, which she appreciated. We had such a fun morning talking about desserts, family life, and summer plans. She just kept smiling and scooping up dough saying how excited and happy this was making her. We cooked half so she could see the process all the way through and froze the other half for her to take home. It was a very pleasant morning and one I hope to repeat soon.

After lunch I was surprised to hear the door bell ring. And even more surprised to see Haifa's nanny with this beautiful plate of pasta with bechamel sauce. One thing about the Saudi people in general is that they are EXTREMELY hospitable and gracious.

A few days after this Chris mentioned, "By the way, Haifa's husband is my new boss. So, you might want to keep those cookies coming."

.......................................................................................

Now the two cakes below for the double birthday party I did not make. I am not that creative nor that talented, but my friend Marla is. She is one of those ladies that always brings the most amazing dishes to the potluck. If it's an international celebration you don't want to miss her table of Bahamian goods. She's a mom of four, styles/colors/cuts the hair for most of the westerners on camp, and can put the hurt on during cycling events; as long as her helmet is on correctly.

Not only is she gifted and talented; she is also beautiful both inside and out.

Boy was there a ruckus over who got to eat which character when it was time to serve the cake. The inside was amazing too with swirls of blue and green. In fact the next day Ethan was a little freaked out to see his bowels had turned blue and green. I reminded him of what happened when he drank the entire bottle of green food coloring and assured him it was the same phenomenon. He corrected me saying, "No, it's green because last night in my dream I ate a marker." I stand corrected.

An Evening Under The Stars

What do get when you combine, not one but......

two blue fiber optic lit mullet wigs and......
some pocket pen lights!
LUMANOS RAMONOS!
(Translation)
A two minute lighting extravaganza (pen lights behind our ears, in our mouths, and up our noses) all while rocking out to Blitzkreig Bop by the Ramones. Our act didn't really consist of much and we expected and hoped to be gonged after about thirty seconds.
But when the MC, just hours before the show, asked me if we had a grand finale finish I said, "Sure, of course." Then I frantically drove home wracking my brain for a finale to top it all off just in case the judges were amused by our performance and didn't gong us.
We decided that if we made it the entire 2 minutes, which sadly we did because the judges were so generous and didn't even try to reach for the gong, we'd end our performance by sticking our own pen lights up each others noses.

I think we really surprised the crowd with our hidden talents. The pen light part came to me one night while I couldn't sleep. Not sure if the sleepless night had anything to do with the fact I signed us up for the event with a requirement of mandatory participation to attend. When people kept asking me if we'd come up with an act I responded, "Put it this way. We don't sing, play instruments, dance well, or do magic, so it will be something completely unique and original."

Mission Accomplished!
Some people had "Boots Made For Walking" along with matching leopard print hats found at a junk/rest stop/convenience type store that is even more remote in the desert than we are.
Sunny and Cher stopped by.....
and then we saw an African Tribal Rich Man's Dance,
which happened to be the only real talent of the night.
There was a reenactment of a dog vs. rat vs. sticky trap...
where the dog ended up having massive facial hair removed when the sticky trap was pulled from his face. And the rat, well, it got its head chopped off with an axe by the lovely lady below while trying to escape; all before breakfast.
There was some kind of funky chicken act....
which thankfully did get Gonged.
A bit of bribing of the judges.....
didn't keep this hoe down from gettin' the Gong either.
We had a shocking Adam Sandler Christmas Special...
followed up by a Smashing Love Ballad. The only problem was, the one serenading wasn't serenading his own wife as she was out of town.
Instead he chose to serenade the bouncer's wife (seen below in black) and when he couldn't take it any more grabbed the guitar and smashed it to bits on the stage. It was hilarious after we all realized it was all part of the act.
Thanks to our MCs/Cheerleaders/good friends the Remsburgs we had a
Night To Remember Under the Stars.
One last note. The judges were awesome giving us feed back ala "American Idol" style. When they first discussed how and when they would gong us one judge in particular was adamant that he would gong any terrible act ASAP. But when it came down to it he said it was really hard to gong his friends and really struggled to do it.

We Tri'd It

Slow and Steady was my theme today.
O.K maybe not so slow compared to my practice times but definitely steady.

This was the 1st ever UDH Triathlon Event and it was a huge success!
Thank you Maryanne for organizing this along with the Recreation Dept. and all the volunteers.

WE HAD A BLAST!

The question on all our minds was just how long it would take us to do the 500 meters swim, 20K bike, and 5K run. Most of us ladies had never competed in anything like this before but all decided to give it a go fitting in a run here and a swim there often lugging kids along with us.

Chris was going to compete in the Tri. himself but when we couldn't find a babysitter he had to back out. Then a team who really wanted to compete lost their cyclist due to a leg injury so Chris stepped in at the last minute and our regular babysitter just happened to call and say she was available.

Before a Tri. was ever scheduled for UDH. I got in the pool and did the 500M swim in a lousy 20 minutes. I'm just not a strong swimmer nor did I ever swim for a team so my technique is questionable. After a bit of practice and a few pointers from a former swim coach I had it down to 15 minutes and was happy with this but knew I'd be the last one out of the pool.....and I was.

But after a few Sports Beans and a bit of adrenaline my swim plus transition to bike totaled to 14:33.

To my surprise by my third lap I had caught up to two of the ladies ahead of me....making up some serious time. It's been a windy week with dusty yucky days. It finally cleared of dust today but there was still a nasty head wind for half the coursemaking my bike plus transition time 49:31. I transitioned really fast this time and got out ahead of two ladies and caught this one on the course.

We ran the last kilometer and a half together both huffing and puffing and at the corner I said let's SPRINT IN, not that I had much left in me but the crowed loved it. We would have tied if I just kept my big mouth shut instead she crossed just before me making my total time 1:38.04.

I came in 5th out of 7 and was thrilled with my time! My goal was under 2 hours and was hoping for 1:45 so with the minimal training and a few Sports Beans and the adrenaline to just keep going, in my eyes, I had an extremely successful event. This had been something I've wanted to TRI for a long time but didn't know if the opportunity would every arise or at a time (not pregnant/nursing) when I could.

Not only was it fun to compete with so many friends but so many kids as well. There was a Super Sprint that kids as young as Zach competed in. Maybe next time we can get the boys involved or maybe do a family Jenkins team.....that would be AWESOME!

As for Chris, he and his team....

placed 1st in their division. That little girl is quite the fish and the boy has some quick feet making this trio a triple threat.

So Much For Time Off

So I haven't really gotten out of cooking and doing dishes like I hoped however,
I have had a helper...

Chris was out of town yesterday and the boys freaked out and completely refused to eat at the dining hall.

So I decided to go ahead and cook one handed yesterday only to have them not like what I cooked at home. OK they did eat the side dishes just not the main dish so it wasn't a complete waste of my time.

Thanks E for stepping up and helping Mom out. He does do a very good job with the dishes too I might add.

So Much For Swim Training

....At least for this week.

While chopping green peppers for my lunch time omelet I cut off a bit more than I could chew....
a good portion of my thumb. As I looked for the chunk among my chopped veggies suddenly it wasn't so appetizing.

With Chris only minutes from being home I tried to stop the bleeding myself. But after 20 minutes of pressure it just kept soaking through everything I used. There was nothing to sew because I cut it clean off but there was one small artery that I nicked as well causing all the trouble. Leaving the boys with Chris I drove down to the Urgent Care where they sealed it with glue, because they have no cauterizing tools, sympathy wrapped it up, and said no dishes/water for a couple of days.

Good thing it's roast turkey night at the dining hall because generally we can't stomach it.

I Just Found Out

A Triathlon has been organized for Udhailiyah residents.
On a day I can participate.
Two days before we leave town.
In only 4.5 weeks.

So I signed up!

I'm not so worried about the bike/run part but the swim will be a challenge for me. I can swim but I was never on a swim team where I learned proper form and technique. Not that I'll be judged by my stroke but I know that proper form in any sport improves overall performance. Also even though the pool is heated it has only been in the 50-low 60's and I just shiver even thinking about getting into it.

Wish me luck!

I'm Such A Loser!

(Photo courtesy of EHJ)

I'm not the BIGGEST LOSER but I feel like a WINNER!

Because.....
all my pants are falling off, I'm getting stopped in the street by people asking me what I've been doing to look so good, and friends have said I've inspired them to lose weight too.


Between the 7 final competitors, in our family weight loss challenge, we lost a total of 151lbs. in 3 months.

We all had various methods and strategies and in the end we all felt like winners. I led for the first half of the competition but when I hit my desired goal weight I kind of hit a mental wall. I could still be at a healthy weight if I lost more but from the beginning I told myself once I hit 120 I'd be happy with that.

I am really proud of my self because it took a self discipline I didn't know I had to achieve this. I've never before lost this much weight on my own without the help of lactation (if you know what I mean).

CONGRATULATIONS TERESA !!!
For pulling ahead the last week I was really surprised, I thought Mr. P90Sexy (Reggie) had it in the bag.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE REST OF YOU LOSERS!
For all your hard work, encouragement, and smack talk along the way.

Although the money was an incentive I hope we can all keep up our new healthier lifestyles just because we feel so dang good. Lets all celebrate in HAWAII Christmas 2012;)

Taking Care Of Mom

When Zach arrived home from school he noticed Dad hard at work and said to me, "Mom I don't want to use my entertainment time I'd rather go talk with Dad."

Once outside he asked Chris, "Is this how you take care of Mom?"
(He was giving my bike a thorough cleaning.)

Chris responded, "Yes, this is just one of the many ways I take care of Mom."

Thanks for all your hard work boys. I can't wait to use my cleaned up, lubed up, and ready for the road bike tomorrow.

The Big Events

There were two events which I attended with Chris. The first was a evening of appetizers and drinks for the winners, heads of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, CEO's of corporations, and other dignitaries.

It took place in San Lorenzo, which is said to be one of the oldest and largest churches in Florence. It is also the burial place of many members of the Medici family.

After mingling in the courtyard we were offered private tours of the Medici family library designed by Michelangelo and the families private basilica. Both were stunning.

The only painful part of the evening was navigating cobble stone streets in these gorgeous shoes.

I fell in love with them this summer and didn't know what I'd wear them too. Thanks babe for going above and beyond the normal taking me out on the town! After the tour we met up with other former colleges of Chris for a wonderful dinner and some adult conversation. I am really happy to say I only came away with one blister and no turned ankles that night.On to the Main Event
After touring the Academia and Uffizi Gallery by day it was time to tour Palazzo Vecchio by night. The SPE annual banquet and reception were held in Florence's city hall.
I think one of Chris' former professors Ramona G., now the department head at Mines, summed it up well, "There are 90,000 members of SPE and only 20 are being recognized tonight. This is a big deal and a congratulations well deserved." Chris received the Young Member Outstanding Service Award for contributions to and leadership in the public and the community, as well as SPE, the profession, and the industry, by a member under the age of 36.

While Chris enjoyed all the handshakes, pats on the backs, and congratulations, I got to dress up, tag along, eat a fabulous meal under the aged frescoes, and listen to excerpts of La Traviata from the amazing Opera performers. I could have done with out the back up performers. They didn't sing they just were dressed up and made out heavily without actually kissing. I'm not sure what all our Muslim table mates thought of it BUT the singing was absolutely INCREDIBLE.

After the show we posed for pictures, sampled wonderful desserts, shook quite a few more hands, then enjoyed just walking home through the mostly deserted streets of Florence.

Ethan's comment about the night, "Mom does look beautiful but her hair is just too fancy."