the weeks are waning

This past week was long, but mostly good.

Because of obligations that I scheduled previously, Chris and I couldn't do much on my birthday, but he surprised me with a gorgeous pendant that has my name in Arabic. My friend Kristen made cupcakes for my birthday at school, and lots of people are bringing in goodies because it's the end of the year, so I've had some sort of headache all week because I'm not used to so much sugar. (Thanks for all of the well wishes!) We also had a High School luncheon, for which some of my friends and I did a skit as ninjas.

On Tuesday, we went to the mall for dinner at Totally Fish; it's a good seafood restaurant, but I wouldn't say that the food and service were worth the money. What was even weirder was that we had a mini goldfish swimming around in a little bowl on our table for decoration. I like my fish fresh, but gosh...not that fresh. Afterward, we waltzed around the fountains outside- in the evenings the temperature goes down to about 90degrees, which is actually rather comfortable- and then I went to buy a dress for the HS graduation. These kinds of things are a fancy ordeal here.

On both Wednesday and Thursday, I went over to our friends' apartment complex to swim. On Wednesday, it was just the girls, and Thursday, Chris and I barbequed with another couple and their son while enjoying the pool. The water was freezing (can you imagine it?), but it felt good in the 110+ weather. Once the sun was down and the wind picked up a bit, it actually felt chilly.

Friday morning, we went for a walk on the shore, did some cleaning, and battled a cockroach. Wehh.(Arabic for "whine") Apparently, this is the season for them, and I happened to find one laying upside down on my bathroom floor. It's one of the freakiest things ever, let me tell you, if you have never killed a cockroach. They crunch! And, Chris wouldn't even look at it. In the afternoon, we went to church and lunch with some of my girls, and then relaxed in the evening to a fine viewing of Back to the Future.

Yesterday, I left at 8am to go jet-skiing with some of my teacher friends, which was quite amazing if I may say so. Maybe some day in the future, that's something we can invest in, but it was one of the most fun things I've done in a long time. We spent an hour out on the gulf, just zooming around (trying to miss the occasional piece of garbage that lazy people throw in it) and enjoying the morning sun. Of course, I made mine go the fastest it could, which was about 80kmph. I have no idea how many mph that is, but it feels fast on the water! Afterward, we had brunch and ice cream and took ourselves home to scrub off some of the sea salt.

9 days to vacation
24 days to the US