...so are the days of our lives. Well, at least that sand seems to move faster than the last two weeks has for us! Since when did I become an early riser? At first, it was jet lag, but even now that I'm sleeping all night, even going to bed earlier if I'm tired, I am still waking up before 5 a.m. I half wonder if those jack hammers aren't a part of it. Although they are to the north of us now, I swear I can feel the vibration of them in my body in the early morning hours. This morning it was 4:40 a.m. when I woke up. I managed to go back to sleep although I have watched too many Friends episodes lately and Phoebe's damn song, Smelly Cat, keeps running through my head! I hate when you can't get a song out of your head!!
On Sunday, I woke up quite early (4 a.m.) and decided to go for a walk...the humidity was down, it was a cool 84 degrees.....and then when I got back, I decided I wasn't going to just "think" about doing yoga anymore. I am sick and tired of feeling sick and tired all the time, not just bored! So, I found some yoga online and practiced it and did it. I went to Spark People again and signed up and got busy on a diet and fitness regimen. Today is day 4. All I can say is that the yoga feels pretty good. I can hear and feel the vertebrae cracking in my back when I stretch and feel the muscles stretching....they are sore at first, but then the next time, they are more flexible. Flexible is good. So, I'm going to try and keep it up. Tracking what I eat has been a huge eye opener. But I'm developing strategies for eating when I'm hungry, not bored, and eating only until I'm full and then stopping. I'm amazed at how much I've been eating when I wasn't really even hungry!!
My blood sugars are staying steady, even though I am still eating a lot of carbs. Go figure!!! I thought I'd have to cut carbs completely out of my life! So far, so good....I've lost the water that made me swell like a balloon and drinking plenty of water has helped me flush a lot out of my system. I'm trying to lose 20 pounds before I go home again in January. :)
On a sad note, my brother died last week, We've been expecting it for awhile. I went home in April of 2009 when it looked like he wouldn't make it. He made it alright! So, I got to see him several more times. He was a grumpy older brother and I was the baby sister who could never do anything right and basically annoyed the hell out of him. But he was still my big brother, and my cowboy hero (even though I wanted to punch his lights out more than once), and I will carry all fond memories of him with me.
I will start teaching again Sunday and I can't wait! I have been so bored. There is only so much reading and researching a teacher can do without her students. :) I am sure life will get hectic, and I am a bit worried about keeping up this new diet/fitness routine, but I prefer hectic to watching the sand in the hourglass, which is sort of what I've been feeling like lately....the bright spots in our days are when we have e-mails from friends or family or when we can chat or Skype with the kids and grandkids. Kayla has started back to school (1st grade) and has started a kids' soccer league and she just bubbles with her news. Mykenzie has started talking up a storm and is so enthralled with her papa. She likes to see me, too, but if Papa gets up to go do something else, she wants to know where he is. :) She's so cute. I don't get much of a chance to Skype with my peanut boy, Justin. I hope that will change, but you can only pester a busy parent so much, I guess. :) And since Jenny is probably too busy to read my blog, that won't change anytime soon.
In any case, please write. Please call. Please chat. I'll be back after classes start with all my news!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Home again, home again!
And so we return once again to the Middle East. It's still here, same as ever--hot and hot, tan and brown and dusty, and during Ramadan. I will be happy for Eid to start in a day or two. Thursday, I think.
Our summer was fast and furious, too short and too busy. I am afraid we disappointed a lot of people we wanted/hoped to see. It was just physically impossible for us to get to everyone...living here in little Qatar has made us painfully aware of how vast and large Michigan is! And that's just thinking in terms of the lower peninsula! We wore a path in the roads between Kalkaska, Hougton Lake, Vogel Center and Midland, with a couple on the way side trips to Mt. Pleasant to see Joey and one trip to the Sleeping Bear Dunes for our annual beach day, which is usually held on my birthday, but which we pushed back so my sister and niece and great nephew could come. That brought my total visits with her (my sister) to two. :(
My photos from our summer are all on Facebook. I have not taken the time and energy to put them elsewhere on the web because I simply don't have extra of either commodity. I apologize for that to my friends who prefer to remain Facebookless. :) It is what it is.
The grandchildren are growing oh-so-fast. Mykayla especially seems to be growing at an alarming rate....she has so many questions. She could be a life coach!! Her parents were especially generous with the amount of time they allowed us to have her which was wonderful, but also a double-edged sword in that it was doubly hard to leave again. Thank God for Skype where we are able to keep up with each other regularly, to see each other, to talk and laugh. I got to see all her new school clothes the other day and Kenzie's cool new shoes. Today she starts her first day of first grade. I can't believe it. But we'll have lots of time for her to read me stories on Skype. Mykenzie tends to be more interested in visiting with her Papa than with me, which is ok, too. She has a wonderful fascination and love for Nelson and I couldn't be jealous of that if I tried! Justin is proving to be a precocious and strong-willed child! Oh, did he give us a run for our money this summer. His favorite word is NO, of course. We are hoping this is a terrible twos phase and not a true predictor of his childhood to come. Poor Jenny has her work cut out for her!
In any case, I will make an effort to post some of our favorite summer photos here for all to see. It is going to be a fabulous fall semester....I am teaching on the men's campus again, am doing some action research and implementing a reading project for Student Services...lots to keep me busy. I will update as often as possible. Please write and keep in touch. Letters from home, either electronically or by snail mail, are more welcome than you know! As a reminder, here's our address:
Maggie Mieske, Lecturer
Foundation Program, Department of English
P.O. Box 2713
Doha, Qatar
Our summer was fast and furious, too short and too busy. I am afraid we disappointed a lot of people we wanted/hoped to see. It was just physically impossible for us to get to everyone...living here in little Qatar has made us painfully aware of how vast and large Michigan is! And that's just thinking in terms of the lower peninsula! We wore a path in the roads between Kalkaska, Hougton Lake, Vogel Center and Midland, with a couple on the way side trips to Mt. Pleasant to see Joey and one trip to the Sleeping Bear Dunes for our annual beach day, which is usually held on my birthday, but which we pushed back so my sister and niece and great nephew could come. That brought my total visits with her (my sister) to two. :(
My photos from our summer are all on Facebook. I have not taken the time and energy to put them elsewhere on the web because I simply don't have extra of either commodity. I apologize for that to my friends who prefer to remain Facebookless. :) It is what it is.
The grandchildren are growing oh-so-fast. Mykayla especially seems to be growing at an alarming rate....she has so many questions. She could be a life coach!! Her parents were especially generous with the amount of time they allowed us to have her which was wonderful, but also a double-edged sword in that it was doubly hard to leave again. Thank God for Skype where we are able to keep up with each other regularly, to see each other, to talk and laugh. I got to see all her new school clothes the other day and Kenzie's cool new shoes. Today she starts her first day of first grade. I can't believe it. But we'll have lots of time for her to read me stories on Skype. Mykenzie tends to be more interested in visiting with her Papa than with me, which is ok, too. She has a wonderful fascination and love for Nelson and I couldn't be jealous of that if I tried! Justin is proving to be a precocious and strong-willed child! Oh, did he give us a run for our money this summer. His favorite word is NO, of course. We are hoping this is a terrible twos phase and not a true predictor of his childhood to come. Poor Jenny has her work cut out for her!
In any case, I will make an effort to post some of our favorite summer photos here for all to see. It is going to be a fabulous fall semester....I am teaching on the men's campus again, am doing some action research and implementing a reading project for Student Services...lots to keep me busy. I will update as often as possible. Please write and keep in touch. Letters from home, either electronically or by snail mail, are more welcome than you know! As a reminder, here's our address:
Maggie Mieske, Lecturer
Foundation Program, Department of English
P.O. Box 2713
Doha, Qatar
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