2008
Moving onto yet another new era of technology. This year’s Christmas “Letter” is a blog entry.The year has flown by.
As you already know from all of the posts on this blog, we were chugging along in CT and then BAM – Dubai. Renee and I (and Dani and Elle as well) have never been one to let opportunity slip by. It has been quite an adventure. I left the US in March and Renee, Dani and Elle joined in August. So, this means I did Dani and Elle’s birthdays on Skype video. I was able to travel home over Memorial Day and in July before we all moved, so I did a belated birthday party with each. During this period, Renee continued to work, take care of the 2 kids and 1 other small thing – she finished up her MBA! She definitely is Wonder Woman.
In the middle we met in Paris, France. This was a previously planned trip that we managed to still do. We met our dear friends, Bret and Karen and their lovely girls, Camilla and Samantha. It was a wonderful time, (just scroll back a few pages on the blog)
Highlights that we have also documented in earlier posts.
• Dani is 11 and Elle is 9 – they are both amazing young ladies.
• Renee hit a milestone BDay
• Dani graduated Elementary school
• Seven and Cassie are living the high life with Lou (and Jac & Ralph and Annie) – this was a very hard choice for us. Dogs are not well liked at all here and they are getting lots of love with our very special friends in CT. We miss them every day and look forward to seeing them again. We do have Osiris with us and his new buddy, Rameses.
OK, so Life in Dubai – can best be summed up by my new everyday phrase - “You gotta be kidding me!” Dani and Elle have even started using this, much to the chagrin of Renee. What does this mean? Dubai does not have many major differences of life in the US, except there are, many, many minor differences. Sometimes (frequently) these minor differences add up and when you boil over, you just have to say, “you gotta be kidding me!!” There are plenty of previous posts talking about daily life. A new one this week is the wide discussion of drivers driving without their lights on. Two real reasons (amazing but true):
1. There are some that don’t know how to turn on their lights!
2. Other drivers keep their lights off to save their car battery!
YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!
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Our villa compound is great. We have new friends from France, Sweden, Germany, Kenya, Wales, UK, South Africa, Australia and the Netherlands.
Renee continues her amazing artwork and is even branching out a bit – www.rlhpainter.com
Turn the clock back to 2007 and a few things that would not have been on my radar:
• Setting up a business partnership with a local owned company in Saudi Arabia
• Off-roading/dune-bashing in our own vehicle
• Getting involved in the launch of the new Dubai Government healthcare program
The World Economy – a real item that will be in the history books that grandchildren (and theirs as well) learn from. The effects are everywhere, including Dubai. The crazed pace of construction has slowed. The price of a gallon of gas is now higher here that the US ($1.70 versus $1.66). We believe there will be world lessons that come out of the economic crisis. The world will come together even more in joint efforts to steady the course.
It is Christmas Eve here. Three notes of the perks of the nice climate.
1. This morning we went on a long bicycle ride to the beach and around to the Dhow Boats building area
2. This evening we walked to Jumeriah Madinat for Christmas Caroling on the canal in the shadows of the Burj Al Arab.
3. In the middle of the day we all hung out at the pool with neighbors.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Diwali, Eid Mubarak – Well wishes to you, your families and other loved ones.
