Good afternoon, morning or whatever other day word you would like to insert. Finally the weekend for us!

Well I got a little bite about a possible job, which was really encouraging but I haven’t heard anything since yesterday. We’ll see. I don’t want to get all excited about something that may not pan out, but at least I’ve heard something. I am hoping this guy will call me today with some more information, so I’ll keep you all updated.

On to the fun and exciting stuff (yes, I finally have something in my life that deals with the words fun and exciting, can you believe it!?)!

Will is a HUGE sports fan. He is already making trades with his online fantasy league to get ready for something that doesn’t even start until September. Its amazing- when I want to discuss things that deal with the future, he claims I’m guilty of looking too far ahead and worrying about things that are a while away, yet when it comes to fantasy football, “you have to start getting ready early! No one ever got ahead just standing around and not preparing, Britt.” Wow. Such wonderful life lessons from fantasy football. If only I could get him to apply that to everything else.

Well, anyway, Will and I are SUPER excited today! Hes a huge Brett Farve fan (what football guy isn’t? I once had the most homophobic guy I know say he would totally marry the man), and this is most likely his last season in the NFL. Will and I have been talking about flying into Wisconsin and making a quick trip to a game on our way home during Christmas.

Will has been avidly looking for tickets on ebay, and yesterday he found a pair for the December 11 game against the Detroit Lions. He called me, we talked about it and decided to bid. The best part was that they were on the 50 yard line- you can’t get any more awesome seats than that right!? We were totally excited about them, but realized that there would be a good chance that we’d get outbid and the price would skyrocket. We talked about it some more and decided it wasn’t going to be worth spending our unnborn and yet to be considered child’s nonexistent college fund, so we decided we would just type in our highest bid and log off and not look until morning. If we got up in the morning and won, we would be totally excited, but if not, we would find other tickets anyway.

All evening Will was so giddy. He was trying to downplay it and not act like he was totally excited about seeing Brett Farve play on the 50 yard like during the snow storm of the century, but I knew he was. So, my heart was running over just seeing how estatic he was about these tickets, so after he went to bed I thought I would do some sleuth work.

I thought I would get on and check to see where the bidding was at and if we were going to get the tickets. If we weren’t, I thought I would up our bid a little. I think Will would have thanked me later. Its better to ask for forgiveness than permission, right? (I’m just kidding)

So I got on ebay and tried to log Will in, but that goof changed his password because he knew I would try to get on and secure the tickets. Such a smart man. I went to bed last night with the feeling that we were going to get them and hoped I would be right. Will called me this morning from work to tell me that we officially have plans for December 11! We will be joining the other crazy cheese heads and Farve fanatics in the frozen tundra for a great game!

So, that is my fun and exciting news!

Today is Will’s living expense check day, which means we are getting a night on the town… with my parents. He told me he was going to take me on a date this weekend- all alone, no parents, no sister, just Will and Brittny, so that is something totally to look forward to. This will be our first alone date since we’ve been here. Its so funny, most people have kids when they talk about this stuff, instead I’m talking about my parents inturrupting us, and not a baby.

Guess that is about it for now. More to come…

<3

I got some feedback yesterday that I thought would make for an interesting post. I got to thinking how different things really are compared to my life in little old Oklahoma and it’s so crazy I had to post about it today. I started answering the questions in my mind as I was going though and it made me think, “What in the world am I doing here!?” J
The questions mainly dealt with safety and if I was scared to live here. I guess the answer is yes and no. Honestly, in some cases I feel safer living here than I do in big cities in the states. The crime rate in Kuwait is unbelievably low. The homicides in Detroit last year alone are almost a hundred more than the homicide number over the span of 20 years in Kuwait- which is a large city (Will had the exact numbers, but he forgot). So, as for crime safety I feel safe. They don’t mess around here- if you screw up you are deported or lots of worse that I don’t even want to think of.

The one thing that I am terrified of here is driving. I know I’ve said it before in my posts, but I’m not joking. I seriously almost hyperventilate each time I am in a car. It is the most terrifying thing here. They tell all of the new employees at Will’s company that they have a much larger chance of being in a car wreck here than experiencing any kind of terrorism, even those that pose little threats.

Kuwait is about the size of New Jersey and last year alone they had 45,878 reported car wrecks. Those are just the ones that were reported- there are constantly wrecks that go unreported. We cannot drive down the road without seeing a car on the shoulder. It is so weird here. Someone should come over here and start a tow truck business. They just leave wrecked cars on the side of the road for days- BMWs, Mercedes… it is just beyond my understanding. Kuwait is also home of the deadliest stretch of highway per capita in the world. So that thought always keeps you warm at night!

What is really scary is their Muslim laws about wrecks. If you get in a car wreck and call for help, an ambulance will not leave the hospital until after exactly 30 minutes after you placed the call. They believe in En Shallah (I’m not positive about the spelling), which means that if it is Allah’s will for it to happen, it will happen. So basically if you are supposed to die within those 30 minutes that is what should happen, but if you aren’t you will remain alive until the ambulance gets there. CRAZY!! I am told that if a Westerner calls for help, they will come without the wait. I sure hope so!!!!!!! Also, if you are injured, in labor, having a heart attack because of crazy women drivers, or anything else that requires immediate attention, you should just have someone take you to the hospital because the ambulances here have no medical capabilities- their sole function is to transport you to the hospital, not apply first aid. WOW. I seriously pray each time I get into a car that the Lord will watch over us. I’m not joking.

I have soooo many scary stories about driving here that I have heard over the last month that would make you cringe- people that are considered “scum” that are brought over here to do menial jobs being run over and dragged and left for dead without people stopping… it is out of this world chaos on the roads here.

So now you can understand my immense fears here. That is my main fear. Everyone back home kept asking me about terrorism and stuff since I’ve been here, but driving is truly the biggest fear I have. Kuwait has an incredible intelligence ministry and they are really good about finding terror cells that exist and getting rid of them. Obviously, the threat is always here, but that not what I wake up being nervous about every day. Does that sound crazy or what!

I could go on and on about things like that here- but there are bad things about every place you live. While I am trapped in the apartment I am trying to stay positive about being here, and there are a lot of positive things to look at too. Life here (besides the above things) is really similar to life back in the states- except I would kill to go to Wal-Mart- the store I once loathed, and everyday I wake up with an intense craving for Taco Bueno. Other than that, all of the “amenities” are here.

So was this post really psycho today?! I hope not, but it probably sounds that way. You are probably thinking what I thought yesterday, “What in the world is this crazy girl doing there!”

Being an unwilling “SAHW” has brought out the inner Martha in me that I never knew was there. I am doing things I thought only awesome super soccer moms with big SUVs were able to do.

For some very strange reason I think theres a ban on tortillas or something in this country. We can not find them to save our lives. They have these thicker pita type things but no simple flour and water thin as paper tortillas for cryin’ out loud! So, I’ve been wanting to make enchiladas for a while and didn’t want to use those imitation tortillas. I got online printed a recipe and off P and I went to master the art of tortillas making… or something like that.

For something so basic, they were complex. We have everything from football shaped tortillas to something that looked like the state of Flordia. Quite interesting. I hope they taste good. We’ll soon see.

Another Martha incident that turned out somewhat successful but has me contemplating taking as ice bath occurred last night. Will has been wanting fresh salsa, and he got a recipe he wanted me to try (I never thought in my life Will would ASK me to make something !  ) So, I begin making it and am cutting a million jalepenos. Okay, so I’m sure we all know the “don’t touch anything” rule when working with an offspring of fire. I didn’t touch anything last night, but I couldn’t shake this terrible burning sensation in my fingers the whole evening. I woke up this morning to the same burn- rubbed my eyes (what a dork) and boy that had me up on the wrong side of the bed today. I don’t know what the deal is, but my fingers were stinging all this afternoon even. So I guess you could say this event was a Martha Moment gone sour.

One final Martha moment was own little “craft“ session today. I think it would have went a lot better if I would have invited Jenny’s (MIL) 1st grade class along to show us step by step what to do! Without going into details, there is this guy that has been giving a lot of people trouble at work. Will works under him, so he gets the brunt of things a lot. He has been kind of down because he gets things pawned off on him and the other guy gets credit. Anyway, today P and I decided it would be cute to make him one of those paper chain loops- the ones that are made of construction paper- to signify the days left of this guys contract. This was quite a process. There were over 150 chains. WE wrote a little funny or encouraging note on each and started trying to make the chain of a lifetime. P took half and I took the other half. We ended up getting the numbers out of order and the tape wouldn’t stick… anyone have a five-year-old to lend for an afternoon? We finally finished and taped it up to the wall so he will see it when he comes in. It is a looong chain so it will either depress him when he sees how much longer he has with this guy, or it will encourage him and give him something to work towards and laugh at each time he reads one of our little notes and gets to rip one off. I hope his response is the latter!

Anyway, as much as I want a job I am just trying to make the best of the situation at hand and better myself. Hope you had a good weekend!

~When life gives you lemons cut them up, put them in your iced tea, and thank God you are a southern girl...“

<3

At this point in my day, there is nothing really exciting to post about, but I thought since I had the time I would anyway. Its amazing how I can kill a dead horse. I have absolutely nothing to say today, yet I log on and write a whole lot of nothing. But then again, what is something? Would that be if I had got to do all sorts of fun and exciting things? I guess so, but I guess this whole converstaion about writing nothing is pretty relative, because what is nothing? What a goof… On with this post!

I had a couple of people ask how I got here, so I thought I would do a little recap- now THATs something (not really). This can get confusing, so I apologize for the everything that makes absolutely no sense. There are a lot of things that should probably go in the middle too, like cry fests, and getting mad, and a ton of other things- you can look in the archives or just insert whatever emotion you see fit and you’d probably be right! Anyway…

The May after Will and I got married, my dad left for Kuwait (as a side note, there is a pretty funny running out of gas story that happened that day I’ll have to tell sometime). It was a one year contract with the option of renewing. In November, my dad just kind of jokingly threw out the idea of all of us moving over there. He broke down what we could make and save and this and that and we just kind of talked about it without much real thought. He came home for Christmas prepared. He brought all of this recruiting stuff and a TON of information. It was overload. I think all of the information made me more scared to go than excited ( ha ha, and 6 months later here I am). That sort of got the ball rolling in our heads about going over. Will and I were having a really hard time where he was working, and we knew that once I was graduated he was going to leave anyway- so why not make a huge change now when we didn’t really have anything holding us back.?

My sister was on board from the get go. In fact, her persuasiveness and prodding was what got us really truly thinking about the possibilities of going over there. She and my mom went over there during Spring Break to check out the school she would go to and meet people at the company and stuff. They came back totally excited about the opportunity, and a few days later my mom got a job. I was pretty upset at first because I thought that my whole family would be thousands of miles away, while Will and I were still in Oklahoma. I was disappointed because they would miss my graduation, and they were leaving with very little notice- they had to be in Kuwait 3 weeks later!

We ended up turning in our resume in March as well, but didn’t hear anything until the beginning of April. I felt a lot better knowing that we were all going to be over there, and my dad would be able to help us get adjusted. We found out in early April that Will got a job and that they needed us there in 30 days from the day of contact, which put us in Kuwait on May 11. It was a mess. Between finals, selling our house, and packing… it was quite an experience and I do not want to move again once we get back! We were only allowed 2 suitcases and a carry on each, and we could ship up to 100 pounds that the company would pay for. After that we had to pay for everything. It was really hard trying to figure out what would stay and what would go. Packing my whole life in a few boxes was really weird. The apartments we live in are furnished, so it wasn’t like we were going to need a lot of household type stuff, but it was mostly, “Okay does the wedding album stay or go...” just more sentimental stuff. Plus a ton of clothes, shoes, towels...I became a pro packer. You can roll ANYTHING into the size of a baseball!

So, we packed everything up, stuck a for sale sign on our condo, and headed to Kuwait for the change of our lives!

Like I said, there is probably a 5 minute monologue that should go in the middle, along with some more clarifying information, but gosh that would take forever. I hope at least that kind of gives you an idea how we ended up in the hottest place on earth. Things are SO different here, yet at the same time, things are a lot alike.

Anyway, so there is my post of nothing but confusion. Thanks for listening and have a nice day.

Have there ever been times in you life when you thought it would be fun to live in a different time period? I love history and am always thinking what it might have been like to live in the “old“ days. I used to think it would be so fun to live in England a few hundred years ago, all of the romanticism and excitement…

Well today I think I changed my mind.

I did a little time travel of my own today, and I will be just fine in 2005.

I am officially convinced I never would have cut it 300 years ago. This morning we went to bible study. The lesson was almost a foretelling of the events to follow. It was about rejoicing in all circumstances. Had I known how much “rejoicing” I would have been doing a couple of hours later I would have taken better notes!

We stopped by Johnny Carinos for lunch and headed home a little after noon. It was about 110 outside. We try to use our electronic key at the gate and it won’t work. Hmm. That’s odd. So we try again to no avail. The guard comes and opens the door for us. We approach the door and see no lights on downstairs. Hmm. That’s strange. We go in and do not feel the oh so welcoming usual cool breeze that blows directly on your sweat as it evaporates (lovely visual, huh?)...instead we feel what we feel outside- hot.

Apparently the power had gone off an hour earlier and since Friday is their holy day, there weren’t sure how long it would be before it would be fixed. A man that has lived there for about a year said this was the third time this has happened. The first time they were without power for 6 hours in the dead of summer. REJOICE!

We had a few cold things we had gotten on the way home, so Will and my dad treked upstairs to drop it off. Poor guys. My mom, sister, and I parked it on the downstairs couch and practiced our most statuesque pose. I guess its a mind thing that if you do not move you will be cooler- this does not work after about 105 degrees. I took my shoes off and felt the tile, ahhhh. I was so close to just lying on the ground because of how good the floor felt when my dad was like, “We are going someplace with AC.“ REJOICE.

I am miserable by this point. I have the underarm sweat going on, which I loathe and am just hating my situation. “At least we can REJOICE that we have air in the car,“ Will says cheerfully. I wanted to scream at that point, but I refrained.

So we ended up going to the grocery store going up and down the aisles buying things we didn’t have room for in our tiny kitchen. And again, I was tempted to just lie down right in the middle of the frozen food section. This weather is out of control. I can’t even imagine it getting hotter.

So, on the way home I got to thinking. I could never have lived here a hundred years ago. I can’t even imagine how miserable life would have been without AC. I guess we are pretty spoiled. We got to the apartment and the powee had returned. I think we all let out a heartfelt REJOICE when we saw lights. We got to our place, and since our AC froze yesterday it is still a little weak. Because of this minor problem I felt it was only fitting and finally appropriate for me to lie on the tile. It felt amazing.

It was my first real taste of what life would have been like in Kuwait in 1750. I sure am rejoicing for 2005.

<3

Land Ho!

Finally, home at last. Today was the big exciting, “you’re gonna meet a lot of people” boat trip. Right. Sure. Whatever. It turned out okay.

I am convinced Kuwait is the dirtiest place on earth. Seriously. First of all because the nationals just throw their trash all over the place because the TCNs (third country nationals) will pick it up. It is really trashy in some parts.

Secondly, because of the smog, pollution and most of all dirt that sits all over the country. This month starts the dirt months- like 4 months of dirt all in the air constantly. Dirt is everywhere- even weird places. I took a bowl out of the cupboard the other day and it had a little film of dirt… It’s just a strange thing. You can’t even see a mile in front of you because the sand just sits like a dense fog. Anyway- this is what we were all covered in after today’s trip.

I had sand caked in my hair, all over my lips… it was so very glamourous.

Today’s trip was okay, but I“m not convinced it was the way I wanted to a day off with Will. It was hellishly hot, which as some of you know puts me in a foul disposition. I should have known today was going to be long when our air conditioner froze up and I got in the shower and accidentally used conditioner in my hair instead of shampoo- such beautiful and shiny hair. Gross. The story of my life.

Anyway, the trip to the island was almost cancelled. The water was very choppy. White caps where everywhere. The captain said we would be okay- and for that I want to grab him and shake him and make him walk the plank. If I ever have kids I will never buy them a flippin’ rocking cradle. I felt like a tall baby in the boat today. Its like each of us returned to childhood this afternoon. People were puking, mumbling things that made no sense… the rocking was out of control. As I sit here and write this I still feel like I am dipping down into the ocean. Anyway, it was a 2 hour ride. About an hour in the water started to smooth out and it was really enjoyable. We sat outside and saw the pretty water and the breeze really cut the smoldering heat. It turned out nice. The boat stopped on the island and everyone got off. P and I opted to stay in the airconditioned boat, but we got bored real quick and took the little shuttle boat to the island. It was so much fun! I wish we would have went earlier and stayed longer. It was really nice. It was nothing at all what we had envisioned. I was thinking palm trees- like a scene from the show Lost. Ha. It wasn’t too impressive but nonetheless still fun. It was just a chunk of sandy land with this huge cell phone tower right in the middle. I guess its nice to know that if you get stranded now a days, you’re just a phone call away to safety! Why don’t they tell the people on Survivor that!

We got back on the boat and that was the best part of the day. IT was so relaxing. We just sat outside, in the middle of this horrible dust and relaxed. ( I don’t think you notice how dusty it is until you realize you can’t see things half a mile away) It felt cool because of the breeze and we had the whole upstairs to ourselves. It turned out to be an okay day.

I’m not so sure Will had a great time, but I can totally understand why. Everyday is like a weekend for me, but weekends to Will are very precious. It is the only time he has to relax- and its probably not the most relaxing thing taking a hot and sandy boat trip with your bosses. We still had a good time together though.

Anyway, I’m am quite a mess- I have yet to take a shower. don’t worry, I’ll check the bottle this time- SHAMPOO!!

My sister and I had a good laugh today. We created our own goofy reality show called 2,000 A Day.

We were in the kitchen having sharing a package of pop tarts talking about how much we needed to eat healthier and start working out again (ironic since we are eating a package of oh so healthy pop tarts). This has been the basis of our entire relationship the last month I have been here. Since its been a few months since my surgery I can start working out about 30 minutes each day, so we agreed that is how we would start out.  So we finished our breakfast and decided that it was really dumb to share a package of pop tarts because they have a million calories in one and you are still left hungry. So we just made small talk in the kitchen for a few minutes and then were like, “okay lets just go ahead and eat something, dang it.” So we carefully weighed our options:

*We could split another “healthy” package of pop tarts and eat nothing until lunch

*We could stop where we were and have a healthy mid morning snack (it was 5 when we had breakfast, so our bodies seem to think its lunchtime at 10 in the morning)

Well, today we decided to keep “runnin’ with the fat girls” as my sister says. So we ravenously opened our second package of pop tarts and attacked them like we hadn’t eaten in a month. I told my sister when we were done, “ Okay, this is what we are going to do. I am going to close the door to the kitchen and lock it. Then I am going to hide the key so you we can’t get in. I will be the caretaker of the key today, and you can be the one to hide it tomorrow.” We both died laughing. She was like, “This could be a reality show. If you end up finding the key and getting into the kitchen, you have to cut your calorie intake in half the next day.” We had a good laugh. I guess you had to be there because it just doesn’t do the story justice in writing. I promise, it was really funny…

Well since we are on the subject of food, I almost died the other day when I was looking at our grocery bill. We went for just a few odds and ends. A recipe I wanted to make called for cheddar cheese soup, which of course they didn’t have. So my mom thought maybe we could try it with cheese whiz (I promise, we don’t always eat unhealthy- you probably think I sit around and eat chocolate frosting on crackers all day or something- I promise I don’t J). So we ended up getting it and I didn’t even think anything about it. Well when I checked the bill I saw how much the stinkin’ thing cost us! That jar must be considered a holy treasure or something because in US dollars it was 9 bucks! What a rip off. I never thought processed calorie packed cheese would require a loan. J

Okay, off with the food talk. Will and I went to the movie store to buy some more movies, and boy was that an adventure. I always thought that now that my sister and I were here all day we could venture to the beach across the street or down to the movie store- just as long as we didn’t go too far… ha ha yeah right. I was totally freaked out last night. My mom told us she thought the place was only about a block away so we thought we would just go ahead a walk since it was so close and parking in this country requires an entirely separate post. So we start walking… and walking… turns out it was not just a block away. On the way there, there was a car full of guys that pulled over next to us when we were walking and just came almost to a stop and just slowly followed us as we were walking. I was freaking out- but it gets even better. THEN a little white car jumps the curb where we are walking and just sits there, watching us in his rear view mirror. He just sits there until we walk past him and then he follows us on the curb for a while and then drives off. Guys- I am totally adding that to the list of the top 5 scariest moments in my life. Crime is really low because you can get body parts chopped off and stuff, but I still felt nervous. This lady I interned with back home lived in Saudi Arabia when she was a teenager and she told me that the guys there think totally different then they guys back home. Their minds are just totally different. I guess she was right. We’ve been out several times in public, but that has never happened. I think since we were walking on a busy street, just the two of us, maybe it was different. Kuwait is considered the most liberal country in the middle east, and many Arab women don’t even wear the full abbaya when then go out, but I think I might get at least the veil part if I’m going to go anywhere alone. I guess P and I won’t be going anywhere alone during the summer that’s for sure!

I never thought these words would come out of my mouth, but the highlight of my day will be getting my stray eyebrows ripped out… Ahh the excitements of being a unwilling stay at home wife.

It is funny to think about the things I look forward to now that I am locked in the apartment all day. Things I used to hate I embrace at the drop of a hat. Bring on the threads(that is their way of waxing)! I’m ready for clean brows. Grocery shopping on pay day during the busiest hour? Count me in! Sitting in 3 hours of traffic- where can I sign up?

Will and I bought the movie Duplex the other day- it is hilarious. I have seen it a few times before yet I still manage to laugh so hard I cry. I think it totally bombed at the box office, and everyone I know thats seen it besides me and Will think its dumb- but seriously, it’s great.  I think it is even funnier now that Will and I are living with my parents. Our current situtaion made me laugh even harder this time around. I can totally relate to the character’s need for alone time without their neighbor being there. C’est la vie… at least for the moment anyway.

******************’

Well I did get some pretty discouraging news about my job situation a little bit ago. I guess the HR lady found out about the whole law thing and wrote my dad a letter basically saying she wouldn’t hire me because it’s “hard enough trying to get women under 26 hired, let alone someone thats 22.“ I guess her letter was a little tacky, but whats done is done and I don’t want to see it. So that was a pretty big blow to me. She and my dad have had some issues over the past year (which didn’t help me out), so I was disappointed to find out about this email. I know I can’t take what she said personal but it is hard not to. Its REALLY hard not to.

How frustrating. I feel like I’m back to square one. My dad emailed me about another place to apply thats pretty good opportunity too and even pays most of their employees better than where Will works. I just don’t know though. I know Will would probably want me to apply just because that is our goal- to pay things off and save money- but I don’t know what to do.

I am too sensitive about this whole thing I guess. People go through this every day. I guess since its my first time to be in the “real world,“ I’m getting first hand experience about the things I’ve heard about but never felt or dealt with.

So that threw a curve ball in my day and bummed me out. I wish I could do what Will tells me and “be a duck.“ Just let it all roll off my back, but that is just not in my personality. I feel upset because I know I would do a great job there and I feel like I’m being rejected. I guess I am, but so have many other young pups just like me who entered the work force with bright eyes just knowing everything would go their way only to be shot down a time or two.

I just have to give everything over to God right now- not having our own place, not having a job… just everything and trust that His plan is so much better than Brittny’s

So, not that I’ve vented I feel a little better and am just goingto have to remind myself constantly to take one day at a time… bring on the eyebrow lady.

<3

No cake or premeditated assult talk today, just me and my crazy overthinking and overanalyzation of EVERYthing!

I wont lie, today’s blog is going to be long. I can compare it to my last semester of college when I had to read 10 grueling chapters of international politics the night before the final. Do you see where we are going with this post?

So, now that I’ve warned the world about my long post and have permitted myself to write as write as much as I want, I have no idea where to begin! The thoughts are there, but all jumbled. Its amazing that I went to college to learn how to talk to people, but there are times when I feel like I am speaking an entirely different language! (especially with guys, ie: Will)

I’m in a predicament that needs an unbiased outsiders opinion…

I believe networking can be absolutely crucial when trying to get a job, especially a first “real“ job. Like everyone else, I think its important to put your best foot forward and develop relationships with those you may work for some day. However, I always get a little hacked when I see people get things just because of who they are. I know that is how things are done sometimes, be it right or wrong, but I always frown on it.

My family has been totally encouraging during my sit around the house all day and watch reruns of everything that flopped in the States time. My dad always keeps an ear out for new job postings and has submitted my resume to a couple to people a while back. My dad and I are a lot alike in the sense that we want to do everything “by the books-“ no special treatment, so I told him not to really push people about my working there to the point they get irritated.

When we got over here, Human Resources told my dad that they don’t hire any married woman under the age of 23 because it is a Kuwaiti law. What a mess. So I am sitting here thinking I will be a barefoot, in a moo-moo, curlers in my hair, eating gobs of peanut butter on double stuff oreos until my next birthday (I was pretty dramatic when we found out). Well, to be sure, my dad called a lawyer that works at the embassy just so we would know, and so I could look elsewhere if it were true. Well, it turned out that it wasn’t a law at all and just sort of something that the company has adopted over the years. They have been through so many different people that it just became “law“ over time.

Well, my dad wrote a letter to a lady in HR just to let her know that I was in the country (which makes everything a lot easier) and available to work. I guess that made her mad and she wrote my dad back and said he was showing favortism and this and that. It wasn’t the case at all. There were no innuendos (or however you spell that) or anything that should have caused her to get mad. It just said that I was living here and if she needed to hire anyone, he had my resume. But anyway…

Having the information from the lawyer has opened a whole other can of worms because I really don’t want my dad to go to the head of HR and tell her that they are wrong and its not a law and blah blah blah (not that he would do that, its just a fear I guess). I just don’t want to be seen as the boss’ daughter who got a job because of him. Nothing has happened to give truth to my feelings, but I’m sure people on the other may feel otherwise. I have this fear that when I do get a job I will be walking into it with people upset at me. Am I making any sense at all!? I hope so. There are a lot of things that probably need to go in the middle, but I don’t want to get even more confusing.

Okay, all of that mess leads me to my current situation. My dad is one of the managers at the company where everyone (my family) works. Every month the managers plan a get together for the wives and their families. Well, my dad signed Will and I up to go along. They are taking a boat trip out to this small island for the day. The guys are going to fish, and the ladies are going to do whatever “grown-up“ ladies do. It sounds like it would be a good chance to get out and see stuff, but I just don’t know about going. Everyone that is going is really nice (or so I’ve hear) and have been asking about me, and all of the people that I am paranoid will dislike me won’t be there anyway. I think it would be a really good time fore me to meet the other managers and give them a person to put with the resume, but I’m just unsure.

One of the guys my dad works with has a daughter that is my age that works for another company in Kuwait. She is going too. It would be so nice to have a friend here, which is another reason I would like to go.

I guess that is my situation. Do I want to get on the boat or remain a land lover this weekend? I think- just from sitting here and getting all of my feelings out- that I am leaning towards going. People are going to think what they want no matter what. Plus my mom and Will both work at the same company and no one has said anything to them besides a few jokes to my mom about my dad having wasta (Kuwaiti word for power). I worry and overanalyze everything (as if you didn’t already know).

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Assuming you are not crying tears of boredom or nodding off, I am going to go on to my next subject! I put up some pics of my first few weeks in Kuwait! I was really excited about getting them. You’ll have to go check them out and see what I see everyday. There are NO camels in these pictures! In fact, I haven’t seen a camel since I’ve been here. I think they are all out in the desert. I’ve heard they have camel races somewhere in the city, which I think would be kind of cool to go see. I though I got more pictures of the interesting Kuwait scenery than I actually did, so next time I will have to try and get more of those.

Ahhh, on to the lighter side of my life. Before we moved I was addicted to the Food Network. It was my favorite channels (goofy, I know). I haven’t quite figured out why I enjoy watching people cook things that I never will, but there is something mesmerizing about the whole process (this is coming from the girl that has literally cooked a cookbook- I’m not lying) So, I have convinced myself I love cooking and have the potential to be a good cook. I decided that despite the fact that I am an unwilling “SAHW,” I should sieze the opportunity and become a better cook (Scary thought). I think (and my family would probably agree) that I have been promoted from “rookie” status to rookie in waiting.

Yesterday I made a really yummy dinner that I want to share! For all of you almost professional cooks this is just boxed mac and cheese or something, but I was still excited that Will liked it. He is always encouraging with my cooking but also honest. He will always tell me what he thinks about my cooking when I ask- which has probably gotten him in trouble with me from time to time. Will is a really picky eater and he loved dinner last night, so that was a plus. He even said he wanted me to make it again for his birthday- this is coming from the guy that is addicted to eating out.  These chicken and rice burritos are soooo easy (I made it for cryin’ out loud) and they sit in the crockpot all day which is another plus. Here it is:

*1 pound of skinless chicken breasts cut into strips

*1 can of green enchilada sauce

*1 large green pepper cubed

* about 3 tablespoons of water

* 2 cups of instant rice

* 1 small onion chopped (I’m not a big onion fan so I used the minced flakes)

*tortillas

*whatever else you like on burritos- we used sour cream, cheese, and tomatos

* Place the chopped onion and pepper at the bottom of crockpot. Add water. Place chicken on top and pour the enchilada sauce over everything. Cook on low 6-7 hours. 5 minutes before serving, add rice (it should absorb all of the liquid and cook up fast). Serve with tortillas and toppings!

What a Martha Stewart! bet you didn’t guess I’d throw in a recipe today. Thanks for working through my many thoughts today! Hope your Monday is a lot less complicated than this post!

The other day my mom, sister, and I were sharing a piece of carrot cake that we had gotten after lunch. This cake is my sole focus. It has my full attention. Nothing is going to get in the way of me and this cake. I turn into an entirely different person when it comes to sharing dessert. The lion in me comes out. It’s like an aniamal eating her young or something- you may see me on Animal Planet one day. Its like I have a time limit or something, and I not only have to eat the fastest but I have to eat the most. It’s quite entertaining for onlookers I would imagine. The way I see it, everyone is on their own when it comes to sharing a dessert in this family.

So I’m elbowing my sister for more fork room and proceed to tell them how great cream cheese frosting is on carrot cake. I then go on this two minute tangent about how every year Brian (Will’s brother) has a red velvet cake for his birthday and how great cream cheese frosting is on red velvet cake. “Everytime I eat it I sit and try to figure out what flavor red velvet is. I just can never figure it out!”

My mom and sister simultaneously put their fork down, look at eachother, and start laughing. “It’s chocolate cake with red food coloring, britt!” No way! It can’t be! I never think,” This tastes like chocolate” when I eat red velvet. Will someone help me decipher the flavors I experience! AGH!

So anyway, when Will gets home my mom tells me to go ask him (who has no concept of cooking) what red velvet is. “Chocolate cake with lots of red food coloring.”

I feel so deceived! What’s up with that!? What’s the point? You add a fancy name and red food coloring to a simple chocolate cake and it becomes an entire different entity!

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Anyway, I didn’t feel like creating a whole new post for the unexciting events to proceed, so I thought I would just attach them to my ramblings of cream cheese frosting and superficial chocolate cake.

We didn’t end up going to the Contiki because it opened at 7 and we were hungry by 5:30. We ended up going to the Hard Rock Cafe. It was the coolest I had ever seen. Its an all glass pyramid, so you have an incredible view no matter where you are. Its right on the gulf, so it was really pretty.

Friday wasn’t much more eventful. My mom ended up having to work because her boss had a heart attack , so it was a lazy day. It was “take your family to work day” for me! Ha Ha. They were able to see all of the exciting and wonderful things I do while I am here “at work” and they are gone (really working).

I am bracing myself for my little sister’s finale to school and her constant company this summer. This sounds silly, but I have a system and schedule down while I sit here and do nothing and wait for a job. I have a feeling my system is going to need a little tweaking with her here… a LOT of tweaking I should say. I think my whole plan is going out the window as we speak.

She is my best friend. I’ve known her her entire life for cryin’ out loud! However, I have a feeling we are going to kill eachother. I forsee many entertaining blogs on the way about being locked in an apartment with my 15 year old sister. Cabin Fever in the air? I think it’s already hit. Hard.

I am already having visions of the many arguments we will have over the computer- our only access to outside life form! I wouldn’t even know people live in Kuwait if it wasn’t for going out on the weekends! Computer sharing will be interesting.  I think it is going to become the thorn in our sides. Shes already made comments about being on it all day, so it am biting my tounge. For now blood in my mouth is better than her blood on the floor. I hope its not that bad. I like my sister and would feel bad about locking her on the balcony so I can maintain my schedule. ha ha

Enough about my uneventful past few days.

I got my pictures developed and they turned out great! My dad is going to scan them for me today, so I should have them up tomorrow or the day after!

Better get going. Happy Saturday. <3