Hells Bells it is HOT HOT HOT!

You will be happy to hear that we are safely home in Bahrain with my beloved. Keeping in the spirit of "never a dull moment" my little Brigid broke her arm to smithereens 2 days before our departure. She was too swollen to cast, but cleared to fly. The assailant? Monkey bars of course. Isn't it always monkey bars or perhaps a rogue tree now and again? She arrived with her soft cast, checked in at the clinic, saw the ortho out in town, and had surgery. Sounds simple. It wasn't of course. Anyone who knows insurance companies knows that is never the case. So, after showing a small glimpse of my momma grizzly, I greased the red tape. If I haven't learned anything else from my sweet husband, it is that you walk in and leave no doubt that you are calling the shots (sprinkled with a little Yankee girl charm of course). It was more like Yoda,"there is no try, only do". So, they did and I retracted my claws and all was well.

I came home to our big house, so blissfully happy. Bob even went to the store! The next day reality hits. There hadn't been a maid there in about 3 weeks. With a near empty house, that doesn't really seem a problem,right? That is until you factor in a sandstorm that not only made the outside look like Hogan's goat, but made you able to write your name in the floor of several bathrooms and George's room. The sand is so fine, not like the North Carolinian variety. Think confectioners sugar, not the type you dip your spoon in for tea time. In two of the bathrooms I ended up removing all perishable paper products and hosing the whole bloody room down with the butt sprayer. Quite effective, actually. We have also entered the season of hot water and hotter water. The tanks for the water supply are on the roof. so....As you can imagine, the water heats up in 112 degree weather.

Things have changed here. There are check points to come home over the bridge. There are tanks and barbed wire around the Central Market area and areas we are told not to go (areas I used to frequent). There is a huge open air produce market right in front of my housing area, probably due to the Central Market being in the center of the trouble. There are also more Bahraini flags around, patriots showing support for the King. Bahrain is still Bahrain, however. Turkish grills and fabric souqs and lots of overripe fruit.

I am back with my baby, my kids are back in school, and I just hired a new lass to clean the house twice a week. Now we are off to France for an 8 day blissful retreat to the Luberon Valley. No work, no Arab driver's trying to kill me and mine, no tanks and check points, and PORK on probably every menu! Then back to the heat of the Bahraini summer and Ramadan closely approaching. Now, don't think I am complaining. I have been giddy ever since I stepped through that big tacky glass and iron gate! I love my bed, my floor, my cookware, my crappy cable that never works! We are actually having a pretty good time. The only real complaint is that my Yankee blood must again adjust to 110-120 degree temperatures. Maybe this is God's way of melting off that 15 lbs. I gained in Colorado.