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Category: holidays

12/25/08 10:04 - 29ºF - ID#47179

happy christmas!

rory and I made loads of sweats for all our friends here. Many hours of messy fun later, I give you....coooooooooooookies. Rainbow chip, Ladycroft's cloud cookies, Mississippi mud cookies, Grandma's orange crispies, peanut butter snowballs, caramel fudge brownie cupcakes, and gingerbread cake. Oh, and home made hot spiced cider too!

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It's already 6pm here so all of Santa's presents have been ripped open. I have a collection of odd things from the crew including a penguin in an egg, which I'm really not sure what I'm supposed to do with it. But, from my wonderful love I got many super cool toys!

A GPS so I can stop getting so lost in Doha! Awesome! It's actually waterproof and shock proof so you can take it sailing (has nautical measures), bike riding etc. I'm super stoked. It will come in handy to take to UK in February too when we have to go driving around to visit his dad and friends. Yah...it's going to be a real adventure driving roundabouts the other direction.

Anyhoo....my other big giftie that made me so happy is a Wii Fit!!! I got myself all measured up and it's not good. Got some weight to lose (not that I didn't know this). This will definitely be a little support buddy to keep me on my toes in a fun way. It's just the type of reinforcement I respond to as a gamer - you have to accumulate so much time in your piggy bank in order to unlock new activities etc. Plus you can set goals for weight loss over various periods of time. It has strength exercises, balance/posture, cardio, and yoga!

Here are some pics of Wii Fit

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rory about to get measured

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ski jump

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weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee (or should I say wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii)

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soccer goalie (harder than it looks!)

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my dinky doha tree

HAPPY CHRISTMAS (E:PEEPS)!
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Category: potpourri

12/24/08 04:38 - 33ºF - ID#47166

gingerbread houses

I held a little holiday dinner program (Eid, Christmas, New year all in one) for the few kids that are still on campus. Some of them made dishes to share, then we made gingerbread houses! Well, actually we used graham crackers because I didn't have time to make gingerbread.

Anyhoo...they kids had SO much fun making them. None of them had even heard of gingerbread houses. I love it when I get to share something creative, and tasty, with people and witness their first time experience with it. It made me really happy :)
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Category: holidays

12/22/08 06:47 - 12ºF - ID#47135

NO SECRET SANTA!??????

What the heck did my ears just hear but that Secret Santa is canceled this year!???? Only four people signed up? FOUR? I was soooooooooooo looking forward to this. I'm traveling half way around the world to be there....and NO SECRET SANTA!???

Well, I still think the four of us should do something, even if we just draw each other's names and know who it is! I can deduce that Jenks is one of them, so who are the other two?


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Category: potpourri

12/22/08 04:11 - 12ºF - ID#47133

cookie parade

Just a few more days til Christmas! Woo! The cookie baking begins tonight. Making an appearance in LC's kitchen this year will be her famous strawberry cloud cookies, Mississippi mud cookies, pecan caramel brownie cakes, peanut butter snowballs, rainbow chip bars, gingerbread bars, orange cranberry crispies, and pumpkin bread. YUM! To wash it all down, some homemade spiced cider drink. It will be pure sugar rush central.

Of course the sad part is that I'm making all these delicious cookies for friends who will all be gathering together as 'family' to enjoy Christmas while I'm stuck here working. Granted Rory of course will eventually come over, but it's going to be rather lonely. I would simply make phone calls to fill my time with cheer, but the 8 hour difference kind of screws that plan.

So, if you haven't seen it yet, enjoy the Elf dancing clips in my post below, they are good for a giggle. Make your own too!

Ciao!
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Category: sailing

12/14/08 07:36 - 38ºF - ID#47058

my boat tried to kill me

I wiped out incredibly hard this weekend during my sailing lesson. The wind was crizazy and next thing I know I'm booking' it with my sail about 1 foot above the water and me leaning off the other side of the boat to keep it from tipping over. While I managed to stay the course, I was not so successful in my attempts at gybing.

Holy crap that wind slapped my boom across so hard I got my main sheet (rope) tangled around my neck, the boat flipped and away I went...smacked my head into the boom as I went under with the rope still strangling me.

I finally surfaced after breathing in huge amounts of salt water. You know that lovely endless salt snot that just pours out of your head after an incident like that? Yeah. So I was able to right my boat while hacking up a lung and pull my broken ass back in the boat.

I jacked my left leg real good. Pulled my quad, swollen knee and leg covered in bruises. It kind of reminds me of the good old days in Tae Kwon Do when bruised legs was the norm. Anyway...I really enjoy sailing, despite it trying to kill me. That is all.
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Category: potpourri

12/11/08 06:01 - 24ºF - ID#47021

Eid Ahda Mubarak!

Eid Ahda Mubarak!

Here are some random thoughts from this week:

Why do I see so many muslims hording the Christmas isle in Carrefour? I wonder if they are just fake celebrating Christmas because they like buying and getting gifts? But why a tree and stockings and lights? I'm so curious to know.....

I'm enjoying a few early gifts I got myself, new games for my Wii, yay! (Yes, I have the new Tomb Raider- and I got it for my Wii because there are supposed to be special secrets only the Wii console has.....let me hear you say 'ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!'

I'm getting very, very excited about coming home for a visit. It's going to be a short one, so I hope to see everyone on NYE!

Imk2 - when will we find out our Secret Santas!? I'm on duty Christmas week so I can't travel far from campus, so I want to make sure I've got time to hunt something down that's special for my secret peep :)

lilho - are you interested in doing my hair/make-up for NYE?! My hair misses you, and you always make me looks so pretty.

Ciao.
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Category: potpourri

12/07/08 03:36 - 27ºF - ID#46989

rain!!!

Holy buckets of rain Batman! It actually rained in Doha yesterday. A full on proper thunderstorm with lightening and gallons of heavenly rain flooding the streets. It was amazing. You really learn to appreciate rain when you go without it for sooooooo long.

It came down in torrents, rivers running down the streets to the lowest point because storm drains don't exist here. Even now, the day after, there are huge ponds scattered around the desert. My car is covered in 'smud' (that's what I call the sand mud here).

Half the mall had to shut down because the water, and this is gross, was coming up through the sewage drains! I mean it looked like some kind of fountain feature the way it was just gushing out of the floor! Next thing you know there are 50 men running around with squeegies making futile gestures of pushing the water back in the gushing holes.

I was thrilled. It smells so fresh outside and you can actually see COLOURS! Trees and bushes are green, the bricks on are red, pavement is black....it is like the moment the Wizard of Oz goes from black and white to colour!

It is also a refreshingly 'chilly' 73F today! Ciao!
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Location: Niagara Falls, NY


Category: birthday

12/03/08 08:56 - 29ºF - ID#46933

happy birthday jbeatty!

Have a delicious birthday!

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Location: Niagara Falls, NY


Category: holidays

12/02/08 04:32 - 32ºF - ID#46918

what are you doing new year's eve?

You better watch out
You better not cry
You better not pout
I'm telling you why
Ladycroft is coming to town

She's making a list,
Checking it twice;
Gonna find out who's naughty or nice.
Ladycroft is coming to town

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She sees you when you're drinking
She knows if you're a fake
She's bringing her fab man along
So show up for goodness sake

With a little black dress and shiny new shoes
Hair done up and some make-up too
Ladycroft is coming, Ladycroft is coming, Ladycroft is coming to toooooooooooooown!
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Location: Niagara Falls, NY


Category: video games

12/01/08 07:11 - 39ºF - ID#46899

the cake is a lie!

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I just beat Portal. If you haven't heard of it, it's awesome. If you haven't played it, DO IT! I love puzzle games, and I love little robot voices - this is both, oh joy!

Check out my new user song!

This was a triumph.
I'm making a note here:
HUGE SUCCESS.
It's hard to overstate
my satisfaction.
Aperture Science
We do what we must
because we can.
For the good of all of us.
Except the ones who are dead.
But there's no sense crying
over every mistake.
You just keep on trying
till you run out of cake.
And the Science gets done.
And you make a neat gun.
For the people who are
still alive.


I'm not even angry.
I'm being so sincere right now.
Even though you broke my heart.
And killed me.
And tore me to pieces.
And threw every piece into a fire.
As they burned it hurt because
I was so happy for you!
Now these points of data
make a beautiful line.
And we're out of beta.
We're releasing on time.
So I'm GLaD. I got burned.
Think of all the things we learned
for the people who are
still alive.

Go ahead and leave me.
I think i prefer to stay inside.
maybe you'll find someone else
to help you.
maybe Black Mesa...
THAT WAS A JOKE, HA HA, FAT CHANCE.
Anyway this cake is great.
It's so delicious and moist
look at me still talking when there's science to do
when I look out there
it makes me glad I'm not you
I've experiments to run
there is research to be done
on the people who are
still alive.


and believe me I am still alive
I'm doing science and I'm still alive
I feel fantastic and I'm still alive
while you're dying I'll be still alive
and when you're dead I will be still alive
still alive
still alive

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Permalink: the_cake_is_a_lie_.html
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Location: Niagara Falls, NY


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