Well the time is getting closer at hand, baby is due in three weeks. I'm guessing he'll really come about a week later, but we'll see. Rich is still activly job hunting, with a few really great ones in the hat he is feeling very good. Our options could take us to Mumbai, London, Ethiopia, Jo Berg, or Qatar. I'm most excited about the Mumbai option, or London. Two really great areas that we have not really explored yet.
We moved into the Phipps home about a month ago and today moved out onto our own. It's like we are newly weds or something, finally getting a place of our own. Ha Ha. Well we are close enough to having the baby that we thought it best to just settle in for a couple months even if he does get a job sooner. We just didn't want to wear out our stay with them. We like our new place, its a hotel apartment near the girl's school, and a couple restaurants and mini market next door to us. Our experience today was quite similar to how it is whenever we visit a new country, its been really fun. Seems like living here in Saudi has not had that fun new and exciting adventure taste because we came and lived on a compound right away etc. Where as now we are rambling and unstable just like when we go on trips. Last weel was Eid and so the girls had time off from school too, so each day we went out and did something fun and different. Me being so close to my due date has kept us from being able to take a trip :( but thats ok we made up for it.
So last week we went out to the desert with the Mortensens, and Galis to have a BBQ. We searched for four wheelers everywhere but couldn't find them, they are usually all over. But it seems like the stands were all replaced with large camping areas that everyone was renting for Eid. So finally we just gave up looking for them and found a nice BBQ spot to set up camp. Then after a few minutes of hanging out and setting up we noticed a couple of local guys parked near by on the four wheelers watching us. Being a bit nervous about it I asked Rich to go shew them off but they offered to rent their bikes to us and then a bunch more guys came over too give rent their bikes. It was really cool to have finally found what we were wanting. I guess we stuck out like a sore thumb. About an hour of riding was all we could get in before we noticed the wall of Sand heading strait for us. One we noticed it, we literally had about 7 minutes to grab all our stuff and get into the cars. Wow I had never really seen the wall of sand like that before. Last year there was a bad storm but I didn't see it coming at us. This one didn't get as dark as the one last year but it was still really hard to see as we drove slowly towards the city. Rory and City loved every minute of it. We ended at the Mortensens for dinner and just hung out the rest of the evening.
The next day we went o Salam park (our favorite friday afternoon destination) with the Turno family.
Then later that week we met the Pooleys, Turnos, and a few others to go out to the Wadi Hanifa (a national park type place) its a dry river bed where eveyone goes to picninc. We found a nice spot to hang out and cook our chicken over coals. The kids had fun playing and making up skits. I'm so glad the girls have really gotten a lot of playing with friends in this week. Their main source of social time is just school and friday friends now days. I am surprised that they don't really seem to miss the compound life though, although it was ten times more social. (I'm glad) I am ok with being out of the compound life too. Our girls seem to be a lot more productive and they get a long with each other better too.
Being exausted a lot lately I'm happy with the amount of my involvment last week, but now my life is about staying mellow and getting ready for our little newcommer. I am a little annoyed that my body hasn't been as active this last part of my pregnancy. Oh well, can't always get what you want right?
