Stolen Sheep

Ahh, yes. There IS a joke in here, somehow! Feeling sorry for the poor sheep... And, as per the norm, when the nationality of the culpert[s] goes unmentioned you can bet your last halala that it was a Saudi!

Blame game. So typical. Take no responsibility whatsoever for your actions. Blame someone else. A man - a Saudi, no doubt, since his nationality is not identified - cons a woman into being seduced. For Eight Years! Or three. And it is the man's fault. The woman claims, "she fell into the man's trap and did not have her full presence of mind." He was, supposedly, blackmailing her and using "some sort of magic." Sure. Of course he was. The money quote, "Sometimes, he would say that he would make me go bald if I refused to have sex with him." Oh. My. Gosh! Make you go bald?!? Phleeze. Calling B.S. on the story. There are just too many discrepancies. Lady, you had an affair. You got caught. Now, you are now just trying to cover your black bag covered butt. Since the man has been punished doesn't the woman deserve equal punishment? Yes. She does.

They just can't be "normal."

It is a mentality that muslims have. Although, in my humble opinion, it is more like an inherrent defect - one that is innately inbred [with all that cousin marrying cousin shite going on in their culture why the heck could / should / would we expect anything less?!!]. Oh, yeah, sure. Someone go ahead and accuse me of lumping all muslims together and not giving the good muslims a pat on the back. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know that not all muslims are terrorists and that argument just doesn't fly with me [lest we forget that almost all terrorists are muslims!]. They can't even be "normal" at Disney World and have to act like the barbaric scourge they really are. Eliminate muslims along with anything and everything islam and the United States of America would be a much stronger, safer, kinder and better place.

Blogging help...

Can someone share with me the code to put something "below the fold?"

Is this something "Blogger" can even do?

Any assistance will be much appreciated.

BC

Baby Coen. Absolutely LOVING having BC spend time with me. It is simply amazing how much he looks like DS when he was a baby... DIL has gone back to work, part-time, and BC comes and spends Thursday night and Saturday night with his Bebe and Bumpa. I can just hold him for hours. Even when he is sleeping. Cannot get enough of him. Love Him To Death! Pictures soon.

Still getting the house set up and unpacked. Not everything made it. Big surprise. However, in all that did make it only one item was broken and that can be fixed - the glass to the frame of my camel tapestry that we got in Sharm el Sheikh. That the shelves to my buffet didn't make it is kind of a problem. The buffet is pretty much useless without them. All of my china sits on the dining room table at this point, until the shelves can be replaced [new ones made - I'll never be able to replace the shelves!].

As far as the house... It will suffice for a year. It is only a rental. Designed by a man. So much useless space - no woman would ever design something like this. I can only reach to the second shelf in all of my kitchen cupboards. The third and top shelves? Even DH at 6'4" can barely reach to third shelf. Looks like the stool will become a permanent fixture in our kitchen. The loft? It is huge and has no purpose, really. Supposedly this was the model home for this development some years ago. A professional decorator came in and did the colors and the draperies. Someone got ripped off. Fugly as sin. [Pictures of the house to come, later.] Wallpaper in the kitchen behind both the sink and cook top. Who puts wallpaper in a kitchen?!? It cannot be wiped clean. There are no back-splashes. In ten months or so, when we figure out what we are doing and where we are going - toward the end of our lease - I can look for a house that is much more suitable.

We miss Sterling very, very much. Saffrynn has always been a Mommy's girl and clingy. She is really, really clingy now. Oh, and she is also a FABULOUS little Mommy's helper when BC is here. If BC is napping and so much as moves an arm, Saffy is right there next to me to tell me that the Baby is stirring. Honestly, I had no idea she was going to take to BC like she has - I was expecting quite the opposite.

Do I miss the Sandbox? He11 NO! I have had the opportunity to read Arab News in the last couple of days, now that we finally have our computer set up - and internet - kind of. [A long story, but Comporium - the phone/cable/internet company - is still waiting for a letter from the management company of the house so that they can install outlets. Right now, we have cables running through and around the house that DH has jury rigged to allow us to at least get on the computer downstairs. More on the management company, later, too. Stay far, far away from TR Lawing if you are planning to rent in the Charlotte / Rock Hill / Tega Cay areas of N.C. and S.C. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more unprofessional group that manages rental homes.]

Back to the Sandbox. Did anyone catch that Saudi women have launched a campaign for women only hospitals? Ridiculous. The insanity there just does not stop. Of course, if the men would just stop being such - oh, I dunno - perverts? - then there would be no need for the segregation of men and women to the degree that there is, now. Speaking of the men... There are some 900 children in Egypt who are fatherless because Saudi men go there to phukk and then refuse to take responsibilty for their actions. Shocker! Hard to even fathom any sympathy for the fact that some 500,000 Saudis are unemployed. Saudis don't work. Well, okay, a few do, but the majority? Ummph umm. Work is beneath them. I have said in the past that if all the expatriate workers left the Sandbox then it would come to a dead halt and they'd be back to living in tents and driving camels.

Yeah. It is totally totally wrong of me to do a post on the beauty of BC and then include insanity from the Sandbox. But, I want to get back to blogging... May as well just right jump in!

Moved!

The movers left yesterday after spending two days at our new home. Things are in complete and total chaos. We have internet at our community clubhouse, but will not have internet or cable until later this week. Looking forward to blogging again, soon! As well looking forward to keeping up with all of the blogs I used to read.

Funny that Saffrynn will be the biggest dog in our new community. That will be odd for a while, I think, after spending seven and a half years with Sterling who has always been the biggest dog on the block... More about that to come. [Suffice it to say, for the time being, that we are in an "older" neighborhood.]

I will be babysitting for Coen today for the first time. You cannot imagine how excited I am about that!!!

Sterling

...is gone. He left us last night. His back legs gave out and he could no longer get up. I knew it was time. Our lives will be so different without Sterling. He has crossed the bridge and gone on to meet friends he never knew. You were a fabulous companion Sterling. You made it through the entire seven years we spent in the Sandbox and you will never know how much I needed you then and you were there for me. You will be missed in so many ways, but so many great memories of you will live on with us forever! Rest in peace Big Boy.

Two weeks...

We are moving to our own house! Our "stuff" finally arrived from Saudi and the movers will be delivering it to our new address very soon. I'll have MY computer back. I can blog regularly, again. The Kids will be with us and constantly under foot like they are supposed to be. We are incredibly thankful that Sterling is doing as well as he is! I suspect we do not have much longer... The really good thing is that I will be twenty minutes away from my new grandson!!!

If anyone is still reading my blog, I need some advice. What kind of washer and dryer do I buy? I really had my mind set on Maytag. Why? Because my Maytag washer and dryer lasted so long and gave us almost no trouble but for the dryer breaking - once! Maytag is not really Maytag any more. It was bought by Whirlpool three years ago. So much for getting Maytag appliances. The salesmen at HHGregg and Sears are trying to sell me Sanyo or LG. Does anyone have a recommendation one way or another?

In Remembrance of This Day

What happened on September 11, 2001, still makes me reel. And we are allowing muslims to take over OUR country, why?

Oh, sure, that lame argument "not all muslims are terrorists" will be tossed around today like it has been for the last nine years, but I, for one, am not buying into it. It is creeping into American culture like a plague and the majority of Americans are to nambsy-pansy to do a dayum thing about it. "It," being islam and the take over of what is truly the finest country in the whole wide world, MUST BE STOPPED. If "it" isn't? Lord Help Us All.

It is official.

Baby Coen was born last night at 11:12P. He weighs 6 pounds and 5 ounces and is 19 inches long.

Excited? Barely covers the emotion. Thrilled beyond belief!

Say, what?!? Is this what "we" want?

http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/world/story/8159176/

Americans better wake the heck up - and pdq! Coming to a city near you...

Most certainly to the Ground Zero mosque. Fausta's blog has the details. Can't link...

And... Life goes on.

Slowly. Almost three full months in the States, now. Status? Pretty much the same as it has been since I got here, but for of course, Sterling. The job DH got that was going to move us to the Northeast? Turns out the guy who interviewed him in NC didn't have the authority to offer DH the job. So, no job. Not that that is a bad thing. I was absolutely dreading the thought of moving to New York. Now a moot issue. Stilettos in China? That could possibly be next. Here is how I am approaching that: After seven years in The Sandbox anything else is going to be a cake walk! We will know if we are moving to China shortly. Do I have any readers from China? Bejing... Any American readers? Can anyone offer any insight to living in China? I have been to Singapore, but not China. Nervous about the dog situation there. Something like a 45 day quarantine? Miss Pretty a/k/a Saffrynn is NOT going to like that.

Sterling is doing alright. Getting around very, very well. The surgery was two months ago and for a week afterward he improved dramatically and then had a bit of a set back. Our vet - who is absolutely fabulous - put us back on track, though, with narcotics. He was fast to determine that Sterling was still in pain, even though the vets at N.C. State assured us that Sterling was not. I have mixed feelings about N.C. State Vetrinary Teaching Hospital. So, after a few extra weeks of heavy duty drugs Sterling was pretty much back to his old self. That is a very very good thing. We know we do not have a lot longer with our Boy. We will just continue to enjoy every minute of every day with him and make sure that he is not suffering at all.

As for blogging and following blogs? I get to do very little. My choices are to use the laptop - which isn't a viable choice - or to use the computer at the home we are currently staying at. Suffice it to say that I just am out of the blogging loop for the time being. I follow very few and visit only a small handful of the blogs I used to follow every single day. And watching Fox News? Well that doesn't happen as much right now, either. Doesn't necessarily change my previous opinions on anything. I still think that Americans are being far too PC and it is NOT going to help us in any way, shape or form. Muslims still want us all dead or want us to conform. It is NOT a two way street with that sect and it NEVER EVER will be. Wake up Americans! Allowing a mosque near the WTC is the WRONG thing to do. Tell those cameljockeygoatphuckkers that they can build another mosque when we can build a Synagogue in The Sandbox. Not gonna happen. Why the heck are we bowing down to them? Oh. Wait. That's right. Who can forget the jeja bowing down to the king? How come so few of us see and understand what is happening, here?!?

A Sterling Update

Sterling's surgery took place on June 7th. We brought Sterling home on Friday, June 11th. He did pretty good the first week he was home, and then kind of took a turn backward. On Wednesday of last week we headed to Dr. Metz's office so that Sterling could be "hydrated." And, of course to get a prescription for more pain medication. Fentanyl patches. Sterling gets a new 100 mg. patch every three days. Poor little guy has lost weight - he quit eating - and at this point refuses to eat anything but chicken and rice. Whatever I can get him to eat is what I will feed him. We probably do not have much more time with Sterling. My heart hurts about this.

In the meantime, life in the States has been going along... We bought a vehicle. A 2007 Jeep Commander. Oh my gosh. It sure isn't a Tahoe! DH says the Jeep is our "temporary" vehicle. Umm hmm. If five or six years is temporary. For a "temporary" vehicle he is making it pretty permanent. Yesterday he attached a tow bar [?] to it so that he can pull his boat. Hopefully, the Jeep will be DH's "temporary" vehicle. I'll be looking at BMW's...

Looks like DH has a job. That is a good thing. Waiting on the final "yes," from the HR department, but the Chief Pilot says that the job is DH's. So as soon as the final "yes" comes, we will head to the northeast to find a place to live. The northeast. Where it is cold and where it snows. I'll narrow it down when we have the final "yes." From The Sandbox where it is 120 degrees for nine months of the year to the northeast where it is cold and it snows for nine months of the year. No. Suffice it to say that I am not particularly thrilled with this development, but you have to go where the jobs are, so it really is not even a choice.

And, speaking of The Sandbox... One of the things I do NOT miss at all is the call to prayer being loud-speakered FIVE times a day. Yeah. I know the jugearedjackass thinks it is one of the most beautiful sounds, but let me tell you it is not. I was sitting outside the other day with Sterling and listening to the sounds of the woods. That is a beautiful sound. The call to prayer is nothing more than an intrusion. A loud, obnoxious intrusion. If I never hear it again, it will be to soon.

What are the Saudi's up to? The usual insanity. If a woman breast-feeds a man then they become related and they can interact without fear of being arrested by the religious police. Huh?!? Did anyone catch the recent article, which I think I saw at Weasel Zipper's place, about how a dozen people who were in "mixed" company were partying and got caught by the "religious" police? All of them were immediately thrown in jail, but for one young woman who was a minor - she was ten* - who was given 80 lashes. You cannot tell me with a straight face that lashing people is what a civilized country does for punishment. Sure, they lash people in Singapore, too. But not nearly to the degree that people get lashed in Saudi Arabia. Oh, and what else? They beheaded two people and nailed the headless body of one of those to a cross. Civilized? No. Not at all. Am I going to miss Saudi Arabia? NEVER!


*She was not really ten. But it isn't a secret that ten-year-old girls are most definitely old enough to be wives in Saudi Arabia. A lot of pedophiles there. Oh, sure. Like in the States, right? Only in Saudi, sexual assault on little girls [and boys, too] is legal.

Thank You. Everyone!

The friendship, the support. Everything. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. The Boy, Sterling, is my Baby. Yes. I have my hands full right now. No. I've not responded to individual comments like I have in the past. Honestly, if DH wasn't with Sterling right now, I wouldn't even be on the computer.

There is more to come with Stilettos in the States, at some point. Oh, Hell Yes, there is. I promise. You have no idea how good it is going to feel to know that I no longer have to bite my tongue and say what is allowed to be said. I can say what truly goes on there on that side of the world. I can tell you all this much, though. I was there for seven years. I blogged for four [five?] or more of those years. Did I ever one single time say that I liked it there? No. [Find me ONE place in my archives where I have EVER said I liked Saudi Arabia. You can't find ONE single time and you WON'T.] I did not like it there. I tolerated it there. You will never ever in a gazillion years hear me say that I liked living in Saudi Arabia. As a matter of fact, I just barely tolerated it. Nothing good to say about Saudi Arabia right now. Not a single teeny tiny positive little thing. Well, okay. I take that back. Manohmanohman do I miss my house "assistant," or in Saudi-speak, my Houseboy. The new houseboy's name? It is me. And my name is Beth, not Sabra. I choose Sabra when I started this blog for my name then and there. For more reasons that had to do with my DH's job than for my keeping who I was secret. Although, in all honesty, believe me, that, too, was a concern. You do what you have to do when you live in a third world assbackward country. My name is Beth.

For the time being, however, there are only two priorities I have everyday. The biggest, most important being Sterling. Right behind him, though, Saffrynn. These days have not been our easiest. I suspect they are not going to get any easier with Sterling and osteosarcoma.

Cancer. Why isn't there a cure yet? Or, even a preventative shot like for the flu? Yeah. In our dreams. Right? They can't "plug the hole" for the oil spill [Heh! on the jugearedjackass's watch, no less - imagine if it was Bush!], how could I expect a cure for cancer?

In the meantime, before Stilettos in the States comes alive with the real author, "Beth!," [if you continue to call me Sabra, I will understand and will in no way be offended - I promise] please contine to be as patient with me as you have so marvelously done so far as you have sat out our move from The Sandbox to the States and now with what is one of the very all time lowest points in my life our lives - the osteosacroma with The Boy. Sterling. Right now? It is not about me. In my world? It is all about Sterling. And, Saffrynn, too... Stilettos in the States will happen. And if you think for one skinny second I will hold back about my life in Saudi Arabia, you are sorely mistaken. Not a chance.

Sterling is Home!

Brought The Boy home yesterday, late afternoon. He was happy, happy, happy to see us and we were happy, happy, happy to see him. Saffrynn was happy, happy, happy to see her Big Brother. No - not happy. Estatic!

Geez. What a nasty gash our poor little guy has on him right now though. It is a "Y" shaped incision with no less than 150 staples. Big and gnarly. There is quite a bit of after care. Fine by me. Massaging his left leg every couple of hours for ten minutes or so to alliviate the swelling is not a problem. Hot, dry compresses every hour or so to the wound to alliviate the swelling is not a problem either. The team of vets at N.C. State Vet School assure us that we have removed the pain. No, we have not "cured" the cancer, but with the tumor removed the pain is gone. It will be early next week when we have all of the pathology back.

Have to say that Sterling is doing okay on three legs. Tripod. DH called him Tripod. No, Sterling is not running and jumping on the bed yet with three legs but that will come in short order. [We need to keep him from jumping on the bed for at least three weeks, so until then the boxes remain on the bed at all times unless we are actually in the bed. Boxes on the bed were the deterrent before we had the surgery done and something told me not to put them out in recycling quite yet.]

We will be going next week, back to N.C. State Vet School to talk to the oncologist and the surgeon, again. Not quite sure how we will proceed. Not saying we won't do chemotherapy, but not convinced we will go that route quite yet, either.

The good thing: Sterling is home!

Sterling AND Stuff

Sterling could be coming home as early as tomorrow! Yay!!! But more likely he will be released on Friday morning. TJ, the 4-year vet student says that Sterling is healing and progressing nicely. He is up and walking already on three legs. TJ assures me they are keeping my Boy pain-free and as comfortable as possible. TJ told me last night to expect a very large incision. Okay. Thanks, TJ, so that I can be prepared.

Man oh man oh man. This week has been just awful. Awful!

The dear friends we are staying with are not home right now. Their eldest daughter passed away on Monday in New York. Again with the sledge hammer to the gut. For us. And even worse for dear friends. May you rest in peace beautiful Anita... 41 years old. Much, much, much too young. Sadly Anita leaves behind her husband of 20-something years and five sons, along with her two sisters and their families and of course her parents - our dear friends.

The good news, finally, though, is that the two e-boxes we packed that have clothes and other relatively necessary items - the Kids tables, etc. - will be here tomorrow afternoon. We were told the e-boxes would reach the States in 7 to 10 days. Ha. Just like many of the things we were told by Aramco, prior to our leaving Saudi, 7 to 10 days is a big fat lie. The e-boxes left Saudi on May 12th and today is what - June 9th? At least be honest and tell us it is going to be almost a month. I would have packed differently. I might have even fed-exed some of our stuff to us. No matter. Tomorrow is okay. At least I don't have to keep wearing the same pair of shorts over and over and over, now. Oh, and I can put on a different pair of shoes, too!

If Sterling comes home tomorrow, also? Well, then life is getting better and I won't even bother dwelling on all of the bad that has happened this week. Yeah, well, okay. Maybe there is still a bit of "dwelling" that might need to be done...

Sterling

Sterling had his surgery yesterday. The right front leg was amputated. We cannot see him until late today or tomorrow. He is in ICU, heavily medicated. It is unlikely that we will do further treatment. I spoke to Mike Metz last night, our vet, who referred us to N.C. State. Mike is also a friend. Yes, certainly chemotherapy and radiation are options to consider but not necessarily the route we will go with Sterling. Sterling is not a young Great Dane. Mike is not telling us to NOT go further but he is also not encouraging it. I understood exactly what he was telling me. I do not want Sterling to suffer at all and I do not want him to be in any pain.

We have removed the source of his pain by having his leg amputated. We know that the cancer is aggressive and that it will, in the short term, kill Sterling. Not that we will let it get that far. We will know. I will know. Sterling will NOT suffer. I will in no way allow that to happen. Our plan will be to keep Sterling happy and comfortable. He will be able to go for walks again and he will be able to play tug. Sterling will also be able to jump up on the bed again and he will be able to get on and off the couch. If you do not already know this about Great Danes, they are truly "couch potatoes." They like walks but laying on the bed or couch is good, too better.

Sterling's little sister, The Baby, paced and worried with me yesterday. Awww. Isn't that sweet?! What a good little girl she is. Saffrynn. The Baby's name is Saffrynn. Saffy senses my anxiety, no doubt. And, let me tell you that yesterday there was a lot of anxiety.

The surgeon that removed Sterling's leg will check in with us twice a day. He will call us each morning to let us know how Sterling is doing and again in the late afternoon or early evening. As of late yesterday - early yesterday evening - all was well with Sterling and he was coming out of his fog from the surgery but still being sedated with heavy duty pain medication. The leg has been sent to pathology and we will know more in a day or so. I think I know all I need to know, though, at this point. And all I need to know is that Sterling is okay.

Stilettos in the States will have to wait...

Bigger things happening. Not good things. Bigger things.

The Boy. Osteosarcoma. Bam! Got hit in the gut with a sledge hammer this week on that one. Took my breath away.

Our trip from Saudi to North Carolina was a very long one. We left from Bahrain and flew to Amsterdam. I was told when I made the arrangements that both The Boy and The Baby would be let out of their crates at the "Doggy Hotel" to relieve themselves and to stretch. That did not happen. Apparently the layover has to be more than four hours in order for that to happen. We only had a three and a half hour layover. So, neither The Boy or The Baby got let out to do business or get a little stretching in before our flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

In Detroit, I was allowed to take them out of their crates and take them outside to do business. It was in Detroit where I saw that The Boy's metal water dish was smack dab in the middle of his crate with the prong ends up. Poor guy - laid on that for some twenty hours? [Why he didn't push it out of the way is beyond me.] As I took The Boy out of his crate he was limping on his right front leg, badly. Actually he wasn't limping on his leg - he wasn't using his right front leg at all. Whoa! What happened there?!? He was fine when we left Bahrain.

I took him to the vet, here, as soon as I could get him in and we had x-rays taken and got some medication - pain meds, arthritis medication - for him and we were told to follow up in two weeks and we were told that if it was arthritis then we would see a noticable improvement. The Boy did NOT improve. He got worse. I didn't wait the full two weeks to follow up. We went to the vet last Friday - a week ago, yesterday. Dr. Metz - our vet here - the vet we had for many years prior to moving to Saudi Arabia - said that he believed that there was something much worse going on than arthritis and he referred us to the N.C. State Vet School. We went this week for our appointment with the neurological specialist.

BAM! Osteosarcoma. Bone cancer. A very painful and aggressive cancer. We were told that we have six to eight weeks with The Boy. Sterling. The Boy's name is Sterling. I have not published the names of my four-legged Kids on my blog before for safety reasons. I did not want someone in The Sandbox calling Sterling by name. More a trust issue than a safety issue, I guess - or both. I had my reasons. Sterling. Poor little guy. Sterling is in pain. Was in pain. We are managing the pain with a Fentanyl patch and with Tramadol and Rimadyl.

There are options. Choices. None of them are particularly good. Because Sterling is in so much pain the plan, as of right now, is to amputate his entire right front leg. The tumor is in his shoulder. That will not, of course, stop the cancer from speading and growing. If we remove his leg we will be able to let Sterling be relatively pain-free - again, with pain management medication - probably for three to four months. That is the likely scenario for Sterling's time with us. Radiation and chemotherapy? Another option. One that we are not going to choose. At most it would buy us another ten or twelve months. Tops. It is far too much to put a dog in his senior years through. We went that route with our Rottweiler, Sergeant, many years ago, when he was diagnosed with triple cell carcinoma. Did we do it for Sergeant or did we do it for us? Either way it was stressful for him. It was painful. I will not do that to Sterling, too.

Surely there is a reader out there who has been through much the same that we are going through right now. Any recommendations? Thoughts? I have done some research and am changing his diet to a high-protein low carbohydrate food. The recommendation of the neurologist was "puppy chow." Does Sterling like it? Heck no. I'll be doing more research on high protein diets for dogs and will figure out what is going to be best for Sterling.

Sick. I am sick to my stomach. I am sad. Sterling is my baby! The Boy. I am absolutely heart-broken that the poor guy has to go through what he is going through. I would happily trade places with him. DH and I sat and talked last night and we are wondering if we are doing the right thing. Amputating his leg. Once again, we wonder whether we are doing this for Sterling or whether we are doing this for us.

Posting will be light. Maybe even non-existent for a while.

Paperwork, SEX and WINE

DH has asked me to refrain from saying some of the things I really, really want to say until some retirement paperwork is complete and the money has been safely deposited... No sense risking that, so for the duration - until everything is complete - mum is the word.

Except... I have got to say that Miss Michigan muslim wining the Miss USA pagent irks the heck out of me. Of course, now that we all know such a pious muslim woman is also a pole dancing queen... [I'm on a computer that isn't letting me do cut and pasting - for whatever reason - so I can't get the link to work - but it's all over the interwebs - just google it.] Oh, sure. Someone try to tell me that everyone sins and that everyone makes mistakes. Not everyone is quite as hypocritical as one particular religion cult, though. [Don't even bother commenting and trying to tell me that I am being prejudiced or judgmental. This is MY blog. I am home now. I can say whatever I want and if you don't like what you're reading, then go somewhere else.] Miss Oklahoma didn't win because of her answer about Arizona. We all know that. It is "Carrie Prejean II." Miss Oklahoma is a stunning beauty! Much, much prettier than Miss muslim whose win was bought and paid for by her relatives. All part of a terrorist network, by the way. Debbie Schlussel has the whole scoop. [Can't link...] The win was also political correctness gone mad. It will be interesting to see what all comes out of that and to see if she gets stripped of the crown she is not deserving of. Oh. And, it will be interesting to see if a fatwa gets put on her head. I mean, after all, what self-respecting muslim woman would parade herself in front of the entire world in a bikini! Pfft. [I didn't watch the pagent. I did see, somewhere, that Miss muslim stumbled after her win. Regret missing that - but since she didn't actually fall... I bet along with being a pole dancing queen she is also a heavy drinker. Ut-oh. She better watch out. She'll be giving muslim women all over the world a bad name.]

Have set up a new blog site. As soon as I get the kinks worked out I'll link it and then everyone can visit me at my new "home."

Truly I appreciate all of the well wishes and the HUGE welcome back to the States. I think I'm finally on the right time zone, now, and that life is getting back to normal. As normal as it can be when you don't have a home and don't know where you're going to live, next, and don't have jobs, or a vehicle [yet], and all that kind of daily life details. Wine. Wine helps a lot. Sterling. Alexander Valley. Louis.M.Martini. It is all good! I no long have to refer to it as grape juice. I can call it wine. And, as Linda said in a comment, I can actually spell SEX and do not have to type "xes" ever again. Not that I have anything to say about SEX right now, but to know that I am not being censored and that I won't be blocked from my own blog by typing "WINE" or "SEX" sure feels nice...

We Made It!

We are home!!! The United States of America! We made it. My gosh, what a long, long trip it was. Thirty-one hours? Longer? We left Saudi at 7:30P on Monday night. We arrived at the home we will be staying at until we find a home last night at 8P - or 3A Saudi time - Tuesday.

The Kids did just fine considering the ordeal. This has all happened so fast and the last couple of weeks with packing, inventory and movers - then the trip - which, by the way I did by myself - DH will be home in a few days - he had to finish some paperwork - it has all just been one big whirlwind. Some of it has not quite "sunk in." I am exhausted, both physically and mentally. The next couple of days are going to be "down time" for me. I need it. Down time and wine. Lots of wine!

This blog will switch over to Stilettos in the States. Expect that soon. Oh, don't think for a skinny minute I don't have some things to say about my life for the past seven years... I do. Some of it may not be all good, either. I bit my tongue while I lived there. I don't have to bite my tongue and keep quiet about what life was REALLY like in Saudi Arabia ever again.

Overwhelmed.

THAT is an UNDERSTATEMENT! You cannot possibly imagine all that has to be done in order to leave The Sandbox. It is more difficult to get out than it is to get in, and getting in wasn't all that easy, either. Posting here will not resume until I am back in the States. Shortly.

To everyone that has visited and wished me well... Thank you ALL so much!