I gotta level with you, life has been pretty dull lately.  I almost feel guilty taking up space in the blogosphere with mindless chatter, but that’s never stopped me before- so why now?

Let’s see…

We’ve been letting Boz (AKA Booger- that’s for you Annie) n Lucy sleep in our room each night because it simply wasn’t working out in their other room. We get up at about 3:00 each morning (I know! It’s freaking crazy!), so come the weekend, they would be barking ready to be let out at the same time. You can imagine my mood. So, the pups upgraded and sleep in our room- and no, not with us. A few days ago Will came to bed after I did, so he was in charge of getting the puppies situated.

Let’s just say my poor husband failed.

Water?

Check

Toys?

Check

Puppy Pad?

Check

Close the bathroom door so the dogs don’t massacre our 32 pack of toilet paper?

Crickets chirping in the background…

Yep, Will dropped the ball. When I got up the next morning I realized- hell really did freeze over. The snow storm that enveloped Colorado made it’s way all the way to Kuwait, namely our bedroom (hmm- did anyone else notice my font change!? What’s up with that?).

What a freaking mess.

I don’t know why, but for some reason Will and I go through a lot of toilet paper. You’d think we were a family of 7 or something. We don’t buy the pansy 12 roll pack. That’s for kids. We buy the 32 pack- and boy did that bite us in the butt this week.

I was very annoyed that morning, but later in the day Will came to my camp for lunch and we had a good laugh about it. I bet the dogs sure did have fun! I think they even thought they had created a giant puppy pad because there were 3 pee spots among the snowy damage. Pretty funny.

***
Have I told you guys about our notebook?

Will and I have decided to keep a financial notebook this year. Our goal is to try our hardest to live off just our living allowance and not salary, so we keep seperate notebooks of everything we spend each day. At the end of the day we total the amount and at the end of the week we subtract our total from our monthly allowance.

You know what? It’s amazing to know what I waste money on! I don’t spend money much, but about 3 times a week I’ll get Starbucks. I never realized how much money I was drinking each day. The notebook has really been eye opening for us and in some weird way it’s made us closer. It’s sort of been fun sharing our spendings each day and totaling the amount and figuring out how we’re going to make it the rest of the month without dipping into our checking account.Like a team challenge (ha ha, I’m such a dork. I’m sure Will doesn’t see it that way). We’ve eaten at home a little more too. When you’re spending KD instead of dollars you don’t realize the damage you’re doing (1KD=$3.46!!!). All in all it’s been a good experience and made me a better spender.

What else can I bore you with?…

I’m still taking belly dancing, and I still look like an idiot. It’s fun though and that’s all that matters. They do this freestyle thing at the end of class where the instructor put on music and each person is supposed to listen to the beat and sort of see if they can incorporate the moves into the song, well let’s just say I hate hate hate freestyle time. I just stand there and the instructor is always like, “please dance!"Ugh, the longest 5 minutes of my life I tell you.

Did I tell you she doesn’t speak a lick of English either? The whole class is in Arabic- it’s so funny. I just stand there and have absolutely no idea what’s going on, so I just sort of wiggle around like she does, hoping I’m already doing whatever she’s saying. I’m having a lot of fun though and getting a good workout. I think I’m going to ask my mom and sister to go with me to one of the souks to pick out a pretty jingly skirt for my birthday. Those jingles really help keep the time.

Okay, okay, enough of this boring update crap. I have a secret confession: I’ve been lying about having nothing to talk about.

The truth is, I wanted to see how long I could type about nothing before people got bored and clicked without getting the news that lies below (ie: the boring odds and ends). Who knows why I’m such a dork, but I am. So- enough with the boring odds and ends crap. If you’ve made it this far you deserve better. Here’s the good stuff:

It’s official, I have to paint my toes and buy some sandals.

(and pack, and finish work stuff, and do stuff for my class, and, and, and)

We’re Sunny Miami Beach Bound Baby!

It’s been a whirlwind week, and a prelude to a whirlwind trip. I still can’t believe we’re doing it!
When I left the house Monday morning (Sunday night your time), the Colts were down. I left the house with the feeling that we might not be going. I wasn’t happy, I wasn’t sad, I was just sort of neutral.

As I got to work, Will called with the big news- we were, in fact going to the Super Bowl. He was beyond excited, I wish I could have been there to see his reaction. It was really cute. He took the day off to make all the arrangments (which means I can’t complain if we’re staying in the ghetto or driving a beater rental car because I had no part in helping). I knew it wouldn’t matter if I helped when I got on to look for hotels and saw that a Days Inn was going for $350 a night during Super Bowl weekend. I told Will that if he didn’t find something outside of Miami we were going to have to sell Boz and Lucy to the state or maybe even a Chinese Hello Kitty store- seriously. So, we’re staying in the burbs and driving a little ways, but hey- we have to maintain our notebook integrity, right!?

We leave next Thursday and I’m so very excited. It will be a very quick trip, but I know it will be so much fun. Everything is good to go, so now we simply wait for Thursday! Okay, I’ll get off this manly, sweaty football talk (just typing about the Super Bowl makes me want to put some pads on and act like a savage- and we just can’t have that!), but I had to tell you our big news.

Before I sign off I want to share something Will wrote to our familes. He knew his parents (mainly his mom) weren’t thrilled with the fact that we were going, so he wrote our familes a short letter to sort of explain some things. I talk a lot about Will on my blog, but I thought it would be sort of neat to share something from him so you could know him a little better (Shh! Don’t tell him I shared this with you, though!). It’s nothing spectacular, but I thought it was good because as Will has said as long as I’ve known him, “Life is too short.”

To our Families:

Let me start this email by stating something that I hope you all realize about me already; “I am not a man who believes that either circumstances or events should shape or direct an individual’s life.  Instead, I believe an individual should rise above and even shape circumstances and events in their own life.” However, I do believe that events can act like mile markers in our lives, helping us to remember exactly where we were when something significant occurred, i.e.. the assassination of JFK, September 11th, and so on.
With that being said, Brittny and I have decided to create a mile marker in our lives.  On February 4, 2007, we will be in Miami, FL at Dolphin Stadium when the Colts take the field in Super Bowl XLI. 
I know exactly what your thinking, “Why spend a significant amount of money, just to sit in the end zone, when you could have saved your money and watched the game from the convenience of your own home(from what many would call a better seat)?” While I admit I see the logic in the previous question, I don’t consider sitting at home and watching the Colts participate in their first Super Bowl in 36 years memory making! 
When I considered the timeframe of 36 years, several thoughts came to mind.  The first was the fact that 36 years is 10 years longer than I have been on this earth.  The second was the thought of “the man in black hightops,” Johnny U, who lead the Colts to a victory in Super Bowl V, and the fact that his life has come and gone.  The third was the fact that 36 years ago the Colts were the Baltimore Colts, not Indianapolis.The Colts didn’t move to Indianapolis until Mayflower trucks transported the franchise from Baltimore in the middle of the night on March 28, 1984.  As you already realize, 36 years is a long time, and I know I would regret the decision not to go if the Colts took another 36 years to return.  There are no guarantees in this earthly life other than death, and Brittny and I are choosing to take a once in a lifetime trip that I will remember long after I am old and gray- gray meaning grayer than I already am ! 

____ (from there on there’s travel info and other boring stuff that you don’t care about)_____

Love to all,

Will, Brittny, & the Colts...All Super Bowl Bound...Miami or BUST

P.S.  Don’t worry about my well-being if the Colts lose, I fully understand that the Super Bowl is still a game and anything can happen. I simply consider it joy to be able to watch them participate in the greatest single event in all of sports, however that doesn’t mean that I won’t be doing everything in my power to will them to their second Super Bowl Title

***
So there you have it. If you were wondering if we were going- we’re going. We’ll be there alright- clad in Colt blue and big smiles, ready to cheer them to victory. Our seats are horrible and in the endzone, so I doubt you’ll be seeing us on TV- unless of course we meet up with some rich executive that wants to lend us his box seats!

Since I’ve written a book anyway, want to know a cool side story?

My dad is a huge NHRA fan. This past summer he was in Indianapolis for their big racing thing (ha ha, love the technical jargon, right). Well, he was wearing a Kuwait T-shirt about one of the camps we work at and he got talking to someone about living there- turns out he was talking to the NHRA President! He let my dad and his brother sit in their suite to watch the races! Isn’t that the coolest thing ever!? He got to eat their food, use a real bathroom, and mingle with the “big wigs.” Too cool. I guess you could say that trip for him was sort of like this trip for us- something special he’ll never forget. Anyway, I doubt we’ll be as lucky as my dad, but hey- we can wish, right?

So that’s my update. Next time I post it will be from the beach with my freshly painted toes in the sand. Look out Miami!

Go Colts! Beat the Bears!!

<3