it's what i do...

Peterpants and I have been in our new place for almost a month and we are L.O.V.I.N. it! It only took 3 hours for our things to pass through customs thanks to a few lines of flattery slung by muh husband and then the movers brought everything to our new location. We live in a hi-rise in Mahboula <----that's right, 'Crazy Lady' town... and I'm pretty sure we'll stay here for the entire 3 years. The movers brought in all the boxes and placed them in the appropriate rooms. I immediately began unpacking and they assured me that they would come back the next day to unpack everything and remove all the trash. Ummmm, this poor guy didn't know that I had just gotten married right before we left and that we were standing amongst boxes filled with gifts... buried treasure!!!!!

I stayed up all night and unpacked AND washed EVERY SINGLE piece of kitchenware that I own. Did you know that I have 42 pieces of stemware???? I didn't... But somehow I hold my head a little higher walking around Kuwait, just knowing that it's here... in my cabinets... waiting to be used...

I was pretty much on a roll after I finished the kitchen so I just barreled through the rest of the boxes and by the time the movers came in the morning I was standing neck deep in paper and cardboard with my hair in a knot on top of my head and YES... I was wearing the same thing they had last seen me in the day before, sans shower... But you see, I actually have 'work' to do now. I feel useful! Peter leaves the apartment in the morning and when he comes back I walk him around the house showing him what I've been doing all day. I'm quite handy really... I use tools, dammit.

OK... so I'm pretty much in a little routine now. I wake up with Peter and make him brekky and pack snacks for him and then I normally enjoy a cup of joe and some skype... It really is the perf time to chat b/c it's around 10pm or so in the states and most peeps are still up. After everyone goes to bed back home that's when I start my chores. I take numerous breaks to go sit in the maid's room and check on my 'juice'. Just a few more weeks my precious and you'll be swirling around in one of momma's beautiful stemmed glasses.

I actually need to post picts of the new place, but we don't have that much stuff up on the walls yet and I really don't want to post pics of her in the nude... It just wouldn't be right. The walls are concrete and the floors are all tile, so Peter and I literally have to SCREAM to communicate to each other in different rooms. We've given the bedrooms numbers now to make it easier. So when he's in the living room I can scream PEEEEEETER, BEDROOM 2, HELPPPPP! I don't know what it is about picking up more than I should - but I'm always trying. I'm one of those people that takes immense satisfaction out of carrying all the groceries from the car to the house in just one trip. All those deep indentions in my arms from the plastic bags will fade away, but I will bathe in the glory of my accomplishment as I heave the bags, step by step, to the kitchen; knowing this is the only trip I'll have to make. I'm being careful, I lift with my legs, blah, blah, blah... It's what I do, and I'm sure one day I'll pay the price... For example, my dogs have really taken a beating since moving into the new place. Standing all day on hard tile REALLY begins to hurt your feet. We did pick up a few rugs from Friday Market but we still need them in the kitchen - which is where I spend most of my time (insert barefoot, pregnant wife joke here).

The appliances here are FAB and you'll be proud to know that I can use ALL of them! No more crispy clothes for the Sidaroseseses... We FINALLY hung curtains the other night - sick of waking up with the piercing sun in our eyes - each room has an entire wall of floor to ceiling windows... that's a lot of curtains people!!! 16 panels to be exact... I hope we can use them again one day... Hmmmmmm, that reminds me, we still need curtains for the kitchen. Pooo! There's still so much to do.

We did get away to Jordan for a weekend with Nic and Jocy and OMG it was AWESOME! I posted pics on FB, but there are no words to describe the city of Petra or the experience of floating in the Dead Sea. Peter and I got in early on Thursday and landed in Amman - we found the bar like heat sensing missiles and bellied up. It's funny to see people's reactions when we tell them we're from Kuwait, they have this look in their eyes like 'i'm sorry' - I just nod and accept their pity... yes, feel bad for the American girl who has to cover up despite the booger drying heat with NO promise of a nice cold cocktail at the end of the day... Thank you bartender, I'll have another...

Friday morning we woke up early and took a 3 hour car ride out to Petra. We drove through the quiet desert and eventually reached the beautiful little city built right into the mountains. We had to hike several miles out to the city of ruins but it was worth every step. It gives you goosebumps (yea, even in the heat) to think about the people who actually lived here. I hope to go back to Jordan again just to walk Petra at night.

The walk out there wasn't all that bad, I mean it was in the middle of the day - but the weather was beautiful. HOWEVER, I walked all that way with the promise that we would be taking a carriage ride back... It seems I was the only one who remembered talking about that on the way OUT there and so the idea had been dismissed. I dragged my feet and sipped on water like I was being forced to walk through the desert, I fell behind several times and was super dramatic concerning my exhaustion - but the least Peter could have done was offer me a piggyback... just sayin...

So after our long haul we found a cozy little bar, affectionately called 'Cave Bar', to watch the World Cup and consume some empty calories. Publicized sports are of no interest to me, so I wandered around outside and played with a stray kitty. She was super friendly and she played with me for a long time. A waiter from the hotel moseyed over and asked me if she was mine... I feel bad for strangers that talk to me, I really do. In just minutes he had gotten the gist of my life story and then it was his turn. He was Jordanian and he had grown up in a cave. He described living with his family and how they got along out there until the government had built housing for them and they had moved into proper quarters. He actually preferred the simplicity of life out there, my eyes were like saucers, I was talking to a real-life cave man = AWESOME!

Saturday morning we woke up early, again, to take a 4 hour drive to the Dead Sea. We drove through the mountains and stopped several times for photo ops and potty breaks. Once we got to the Dead Sea Resort it was party time! We cocktailed in our room, by the pool, by the Dead Sea, back by the pool, in the hotel, back by the pool... it was lovely! Floating in the Dead Sea is the weirdest thing - it's the lowest point on Earth and the salinity is so overwhelming that nothing can live in it (hence the name). THANK GOD Peter reminded me not to shave or it would have been an unbearably painful experience. There were a few unlucky souls that entered the water with yelps and screams - poor ladies, talk about razor BUUUUURN!!! There was this one guy who ATE IT on the way down and his back was cut up from grating it down several steps. I asked him if he was OK and he looked me right in the eye and said, 'NO!'. I wasn't sure what to do after that... I thought 'Yes' was always the response when someone asked you if you were OK?? Kinda like when someone asks 'How are you?' and you reply with 'Good. How are you?' I winced when he got in the water... OUCH! :-(

Sunday was ANOTHER early day headed to the airport. Once we got home we both just crashed... Randomly napping and eating. There had been these noodles that I bought from the grocery store that you heat up in the microwave and then drain from the same container. I was so out of it that when I went to drain them the container came open and my precious noods fell right into the sink. I screamed for Peter and was borderline teary eyed - I really had my heart set on eating those thai noodles for dins. Peter saved the day and fished them out of the sink for me, rinsing them off, we added the sauce and I shoveled them in to my mouth. Well, Peter had been cleaning some bottles with this 'solution' earlier in the evening... and we're pretty sure that's to blame for the aftermath that ensued in the days that followed.

If you're still reading, you're probably a good friend of mine, and since I won't see your face for a long long time - I'm OK with sharing this story. I woke up the next day to a tummy that shot me the middle finger with a 'PEACE, I'm OUT'. I spent the next 3 days walking from the bathroom to the bed to the sofa to the bathroom, to the bathroom, to the bathroom, to the bathroom... Up until this point, Peter didn't think I ever used the bathroom, I mean, except for showering and getting ready and girly stuff... My cover had been BLOWN! The poop jokes got REALLY old after day 1, but no, Peter must have been stockpiling these b/c every time I returned from the bathroom he launched a new one at me. I researched on the internet, which literally scared the poo out of me, and found out that my intestines were not absorbing water. I was drinking 4.5 liters of water a day and was still dehydrated. I couldn't eat anything and was in excruciating pain. I really wanted my mommy!!

On a positive note, I lost 5 lbs! Every morning I would wake up and hop on the scale and yell to Peter that I had lost another 2 lbs... it was like Christmas there for about 2 mins standing on that scale, until my stomach realized that I was awake and it was time to let nature 'run its course' again... stupid noods...

I tried everything in the way of home remedies and even tried some meds from the quack shack. A friend of mine shared a home remedy that her family swore by - eating tea. That's right, steeping a tea bag for about 20 secs and then tearing open that little Lipton nugget and consuming its contents. I did it. I ate tea and it almost came back up... Nasty little trick, but it worked...

I'm all better now, but the poop jokes still haven't stopped. Pretty shitty if you ask me...