Timika is not in the top 1000 female names for any year of birth in the last 40 years.

Why am I not surprised by this?

I had the most amazing dream last night, I wish I could have it again and again!

In my dream we had already mastered trips to space for common folk. Naturally, (e:theecarey) and myself were on board one of these flights. We were taking a 'cruise ship' to the 'Asteroid Islands'. Yeah, clever.

The ship looked just like a space shuttle, except is was about 20 times bigger, maybe more. It launched vertically with some type of blue flame that burned entirely clean. Humankind had created a way to eliminate g-force on the internal compartments of the ship, so passengers felt nothing at all. In fact, Carey and I were involved in a game of Wizard Chess before we realized we had taken off.

There were only a few observation decks but they were closed for the journey to the first island. A creepy robotic voice announced our arrival; the sweet British accent makes me nervous. I momentarily wonder if she'll try to kill us all in some act of AI rebellion. Then the observation deck windows opened. Slowly, very slowly, the dark gray walls lowered and I caught my first glimpse of bright blue as Earth came into view. Then, browns and greens....and I screamed with excitement, "Carey come look, that's AAAFFFRIICAAA"! The massive continent came into full view as the grinding metal came to a halt. It was so real. So real. I was standing on board a ship looking at Africa from 20,000 miles away. A shroud of tranquility fell over everyone in that room. I could hear my own heart beating.

We were interrupted by the voice announcing not our doom, but our freedom to access the first island - which looked remarkably like one out of Mario Galaxy. Imagine a jagged lump of gray rock floating in space with a perfect layer of bright fluffy green grass on the top side. This island of course doesn't rotate, it remains idle save for it's orbit around Earth.

We descended to the surface via ladder. Humankind had also figured out a way to create force fields allowing for prime environmental conditions. It was perfect. No air tanks, no eye wear, just a sexy white jumpsuit was all that separated my skin from the vast universe.

I'm stealing this line from "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs".....

Carpe the Diem!

I just got notification that I've been accepted to NAFSA Academy! I really wanted to do this so I am STOKED. It's a 9 month training program for young professionals in the field of international education. Since I'll only be in Qatar one more academic year, I wanted to find ways to broaden my international experience and boost my resume. This is my golden ticket! So, so, so happy I got accepted! Woohoo!

Which means, brief visit to B-lo in March! The spring training session is in Atlanta, but I need to get to B-lo to do some important name change stuff that I must do in person. Hopefully I can see a few peeps while I'm whirl winding my way through!

For Christmas this year I tried a new way of cooking the turkey. I enlisted Rory's help because it was grossing me out, but hey, got a 13 pound turkey cooked in an hour and ten minutes! Got the idea from our favorite cooking criminal, Martha Stewart.

They made it look so easy in the magazine I thought it would take about 15 minutes to mutilate, but ended up taking an hour! Maybe the turkey wasn't 1oo% thawed, maybe my kitchen sheers need sharpening, or maybe it's just plain harder than it looks in a picture.

STEP 1- remove all the innards, rinse, and pat the bird dry with paper towel. This is important because the bird WILL slide all over the place if it's damp. Our poor Blinky got her head covered in pink turkey juice as it spilled over the counter. I scrubbed her fur and got the pink out but she smelled like turkey all day.




STEP 2 - Flip the bird over on it's belly and stick your sheers up it's butt hole. Cut the spine out by cutting along both sides. I think our bird had scoliosis....








STEP 3 - Flip the bird over so it's breast side up, and break the breast bones. Essentially, set yourself up like you're going to give CPR, except you WANT to hear the bones break.




STEP 4 - Pin the wings under, baste with a mixture of olive oil and pepper, and roast for approximately 70 minutes, basting in between.




STEP 5 - Carve and enjoy.

Doha has wreaked havoc on my sinuses since I got here. Between the constant sandy air, air conditioners and mold I don't stand a chance. I've already had two URTI's as a result. I've been looking at the neti pot as a form of preventative medicine to see if it helps. I think I remember reading something on here at some point in the last 3 years about people using them?

Does anyone have any input on using one?