Over and Out

Over and out, Doha...Texas bound.

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Hippopotamus Steak House

Everyday I am that "one day closer" to the real Tex Mex, but in the meantime, I made a stop at the newly opened Hippopotamus Steak House (no, not Tex Mex). I had to scope out the place sans David for fear that they wouldn't have iced tea, you know, one of those "God forbid" things. My fears were confirmed, but my lunch date and I somehow survived the husband's worst nightmare. It's located in the front of City Center Mall on street level, I think. I get a little confused in the buildings in Doha as to what floor I'm actually on. So sue me for being level-challenged. Anyway, I loved the open air atmosphere with waterfalls on one side and the outdoor water fountains to view through the glass on the other side. It was absolutely peaceful and inviting. I ordered a tandoori chicken salad that was very enjoyable. Truth be told, my partner and I talked so much that I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the food. We stretched our lunch out to a full three hours, before we moseyed on our way. It was definitely my kind of place, as I love great ambiance at a fair price that's conducive to chatter. The servers were ultra attentive to boot. It's absolutely a place that I'll revisit with my girlfriends, leaving my southern iced tea addicted husband at the pink villa, of course!

Price:

Our 88QR or $24.18 tab included...

tandoori grilled chicken salad (small)
whatever kind of salad Jennifer got (sorry!)
basket of bread
one creme brulee (very yummy!)
1 large water

Larry Gatlin ~ Houston (Means I'm One Day Closer to You)

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One Day Closer to Tex Mex

On the heels of going home in FIVE days, visions of enchiladas and Tex-Mex food are dancing in my head. It's a shame, but food always finds its way somehow to the forefront. So, with the thoughts of Tex-Mex and being that I'm still in Doha, another image comes to mind that I have an overwhelming urge to share. I've heisted it from friend/blogger Gina's facebook page. I don't think she'll mind, but if she does I'll give her my next born child. A PROMISE, I will keep, Gina!


Yes, you are reading that sign correctly...a little down home Tex-Mex CHINESE Cuisine in Doha. Seems like I heard somewhere that the burritos there were pretty good. Was that you, Shabina? Anyway, I'm not so sure a Texan would be caught dead in a dive that somehow puts a Chinese twist on Tex-Mex. Ok, so maybe I just couldn't find the place, dadgumit. Desperation is setting in.

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Chicks Tweet Up #1

No doubt, one of the greatest enlightenments I will have received during my gig in Qatar is realizing that even though we come from different lands and cultures, we are all cut from the same cloth.

What do you get when you cross a couple of Brits, a South African, a German, a Pakistani, an Indian, a Texan, a Michigander and then throw in some Christian, a little Hindu, and a helping of Muslim? Gosh, I hope I got all that right?!

A melting pot of a great time is what you get. A group of us gathered today at Colombiano Coffee for Doha's first female only Tweet-up. Sorry guys, there may have been a bit of gender bias, but a little sisterly bonding was in order. Already looking forward to our next meeting!

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Sticky Business

I worked today, even though I reported a while back that I was due to start my summer hiatus from Patrizi Photography. Sherry had other plans, but NOW, I am officially on summer leave. We deal with Murphy's law constantly at her photo business and today was no exception, as I heard Sherry hollering from across the house, "Sybil, I need your help!". I'm still perusing my job description to see where it says unsticking puppy dogs from mousetraps is one of my duties!

Poor, poor, Bella...

Happy to be Stuck with You ~ Huey Lewis & The News

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The Great Debate

Just a friendly discussion following a fender bender in front of Rivera yesterday afternoon. I love the way the witnesses got up close and personal, while never changing their stances or opening their mouths. If only one of them had just said "beep beep", this might have been prevented :(


The Little Nash Rambler

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Return of the Trampoline III

the cure for the summer time blues...


They say that patience is a virtue. It's one that I don't necessarily have, but sometimes I just get slapped in the face with it. Yep, it's the Return of the Trampoline III. A little voice told me to detour around the hole this afternoon and lo and behold there it was, no doubt beckoning the little children to come forward for a little fun. I'm not so sure about the strategic placement, though, well unless they're going to fill that hole within the hole with water. Now that, my friends, would make for a pretty cool diving board. Oh yeah, I'm feelin' it.


Related Posts:
Playground Follow Up
Riviera Madness

Summer Time Blues ~ Alan Jackson

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Lunch at The Lagoon

I don't know how Kayla celebrated her new found job, but David and I rang in the "one less on our payroll" moment with lunch at The Ritz. We don't usually do the hotel circuit for eating with the prices being overly ridiculous, but the delirium of the occasion overrode our sensibilities. So, the "international buffet" at The Lagoon was the choice. I knew we wouldn't be disappointed by it's open feel atmosphere overlooking the beautiful grounds of The Ritz, so I thought we'd see what culinary delectables they had to offer, cuz you know what culinary experts we are. Do TGI Friday's buffalo chicken tacos fall in that category? Well, they should. At $50 a pop for the buffet, all I could think about was, "wow, how many Quiznos boxes could I collect with that amount of money?". That didn't include the drinks, not even the H2O. For the price, the entree and veggie selection was barely adequate. I'm a color balance freak and I couldn't find any dark green veggies such as broccoli, green beans, asparagus, or spinach to color coordinate my plate. Yoohooooo, Mr. Chef, that would have been in food preparation 101. They did, however, come through in my favorite course, dessert, of course. Um ali, Arabic sweets, cheese cakes, custards were on display, and yes, I had a bit of it all with the strongest coffee I've ever had in my life. I've still got my caffeine buzz on. We stretched out our meal as long as we could and then strolled the grounds of The Ritz to get our money's worth. No celebrity sightings were in store for us, but it was enjoyable, none the less. Sorry you missed your celebratory meal, K!

The Lagoon ~ Downstairs in The Ritz Carlton

Location - West Bay area of Doha
Atmosphere - Lovely open feel
Service - Excellent
Food - Good (for the $$, Excellent should be in order)
Prices -
2 Buffets - 360QR ($100)
1 Large Water (25QR) ($6.86)
Coffee for 2 (30QR) ($8.24)
Grand Total for 2 = 415QR ($115.10)

Which could buy 26 of Quiznos' Premium 6 inch sandwiches
or
13 Buffalo Chicken Taco & Fries platters (which we share)

...but then again, who's counting?

Celebrate ~ Kool & The Gang

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Shout!

My Texas phone ringing in Doha at 1:00 in the morning always makes my stomach churn. With four kids, my mind runs the whole gamut. Who's in trouble, who's sick, oh my God, who has died?! I know, awful thoughts, but my brain travels faster than that infamous Land Cruiser driver we spoke of yesterday. This particular call....a God send.

rring, rring: Hello?!
Kayla: Mom, don't be mad at me, but I got THE job!!!!!!!!


CONGRATS to Kayla who is on her way to continuing college life after graduating next month, but this time being the payee and not the payor. Her one and only interview has landed her a position at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, Texas as a Residence Hall Director and Kayla is crazily excited, as are we. So much, Kayla, that...

You know you make us want to SHOUT!
Kick our heels up and SHOUT!
Throw our hands up and SHOUT!
Throw our heads back and SHOUT!

...sing it with me!

Shout ~ The Isley Brothers 1959

Related post: Kayla Get(s) A Life

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Who Says You Can't Go Home?!

Click confirm now to buy tickets. Done! Finally, I purchased my homeward bound ticket to Austin with a little push from some volcanic ash. Who would have thought an Icelandic eruption would help me with my commitment issues. It dawned on me when this crazy event hit the news that travelers may opt for the Qatar Airways direct flight to the States and bypass the usual European stopovers to avoid any possible upcoming cancellations due to the hovering ash storm. Since I already had the dates in my head, I didn't want to miss the boat or plane in this case, so a healthy dose of fear put me in gear. Alas, two weeks from today I will be stepping foot on Texas soil. Yeehaw! I'm going for a marathon stay of two and a half months which will fly by faster than a Landcruiser driven by a thobed Qatari man. Excuse the stereotype, but some times you just call it as you see it (even if it is a blur flying by).

Who Says You Can't Go Home ~ Bon Jovi/Jennifer Nettles

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Playground Follow Up

Someone is setting me up. Twice I've spotted a trampoline in Riviera's "hole", aka playground, only to go back to capture it on film and it be gone. I saw it a few weeks back, but went a few days later and it wasn't to be found. Just today I went by and it was back, again. I returned two hours later to take pics and it had disappeared, yet again! I feel like I'm on Candid Camera. All wasn't lost. I was able to snap a pic of the villa kids taking advantage of the recreation area. It's comforting to know that they have a safe place to play while staying out of trouble. I also noted that the basketball goal had been removed. There must have been a safety issue with it.

Mr. Rogers Theme Song

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Princess Pitiful

Three or four days without a "real" post and you survived and more over I survived. And, "No, Konnie, I'm NOT pregnant!" Other than that possibility, the earth didn't move and the skies didn't come tumbling down as a result of no blog post, but hey, we did have a rainbow. Hmmm, so what was that telling me? It was a beautiful rainbow by the way...one of those wall to wall ones. Multiple pics popped up on twitter and there was even a picture of it gracing the Qatar Tribune this morning. Crossing the twitter waves this morning was a comment, "where else in the world are rain and clouds great weather?". True meanderings, indeed.

Enough about rainbows. On to my poor neglected "Princess". You know, I use to keep you in the know when it came to the life of Sykes, (R.I.P). Perhaps Princess prefers to stay out of the limelight. She did finally get over her toilet tissue fetish, after I stored it under lock and key. So now she pretty much stays out of trouble and like Sykes before her, she enjoys joining us at the dinner table. Same rules apply to her as Sykes, only front paws are allowed to touch the table. She's very well behaved in that respect, but gets her feelings hurt that we won't share our meal with her. She toggles back and forth between David and myself before going off to sulk in her usual hideout after multiple unsuccessful attempts. Poor poor pitiful Princess.

Poor Poor Pitiful Me ~ Linda Rondstadt

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Nightmare Post

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No Fly Zone

I can be so easily humored, and my husband, well, even more. While at work yesterday, I was introduced to the most handy dandy gadget ever by Sherry. Nope, not a newfangled photoshopping trick, but a hand zapper for pesky flying insects. After one demonstration by the boss lady, I was sold. So I set out to Carrefour this afternoon to purchase one for my very own. Ok, two, one for David and one for me. Let's be totally honest here, make that eight. Christmas is around the corner. Darn, too bad they won't fit in my Quiznos boxes. Anyway, I got my first zap in a little while ago and it was exhilarating. David wanted in on the action and finally got to electrocute a few of the buggers himself. He hasn't put it down since. I pity the fool that enters his "no fly zone".

Highway to the Danger Zone ~ Kenny Loggins

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