Opa wasn't my grandfather. He's the father of my 'babysitter'. Sylvia was the babysitter for all us kids, and we used to live next door. It's one of those deals where you kind of become family with some folks. Hence, I called her parents Oma and Opa.

On Thanksgiving day they were in a bad car accident. He never recovered from his injuries. It's sad. Good-bye Opa.

Rory.

I had a crack in my bathtub and they couldn't fix it; they had to replace the entire tub. I've been 4 days without a bathroom. I'm really hoping they will finish tomorrow!

I was shocked half way through when I saw the new tub in place, but not yet tiled in. Sand! They filled it with sand!






On a high note, I have a second date tomorrow night :)

Since I've been here there have been a lot of firsts for me. First time living overseas, first new car, first dune riding experience etc. Then there are a lot of firsts which are not necessarily my first, first, but are a first since being here in Doha. Such as my first conduct hearing, driving lesson, alcoholic beverage, birthday, etc.

The point of all that is to say I had another first last night that made me happy. I had my first date in Doha. By chance the guy happens to be the roommate of the girl I bought my car from. She invited me to the Rugby Club where I met him among 20 or so other people. Apparently we were getting along well enough for others to notice and so began the plotting of getting the two of us together. I guess it worked.

We had a nice dinner at a Thai place then got some ice cream and walked along the canal. It was simple, it was sweet. Maybe the fact that I haven’t been on a proper date in 6 years played a part in my happiness, but overall he’s just charming and highly entertaining. Cheers!

I cannot find the words to express how incredibly happy I am. I lost contact with a friend some 8 years ago. Our relationship was special, conflicted between love and hate. So much so that when you're 20 you simply don't have the emotional intelligence to deal with it. When he moved away and we lost touch.

3 years ago he was visiting me in my dreams almost nightly. He told me I had to find him. I tried. I tried so hard. The dreams lasted for several months. I cried in frustration because I couldn't find him. Then, the dreams stopped and I thought he was dead. I was convinced I would never hear from him again.

Until two nights ago, when I get an e-mail out of the blue. I almost didn't believe what I was reading.; I couldn't believe it was him. I don't want to go into detail about how my dreams eerily parallel his life at that time, but it makes so much sense now.

I'm just so happy to have him back in my life. I really am.