More fun for the day in Kuwait

I took this picture as we exited the parking garage and I closed my eyes. These people have no etiquette when it comes to driving. They drive where ever they want to and if they could they would drive right over you.

This is a little boat that is on the sandy part of one of the on ramps to one of the motorways.

This is I guess the front part of the new 360 Kuwait Mall. They were doing the iron work which is all done by hand by wonderful craftsman.

This sign says "Messilla Water Village" this is the ritzy part of Kuwait. rents way more than we would want to pay but right on the water.

"Oula" which I guess means gas as this is a gas station.

Michael and I went back to Avenues today to walk. It was a very pretty day with temps in the 70's and I just wanted out of the house. We did 2 laps which was one full lap upstairs and then we did a full lap downstairs. Michael figured we walked over 2 miles but before the walk we went and got a Pizza at Pizza Hut and it was so good. I had not had one in awhile and it tasted so good. Today is a very busy day at the mall and even with the millions of parking spaces it took us a while to find one. Avenues parking lots are color coded and you had better remember where you parked or you will walk that thing for hours.
Today I realized something else that bugs me about Kuwaiti drivers is they honk at everything. We were sitting dead stopped in the shopping mall garage honking as if that would make the stopped traffic move and they will go around anything or everything to get in front of you. I have seen people in the mall garage go up on the sidewalk just to get around a car that is doing the speed limit for being in a garage. The Kuwaitis are always in a hurry. But they honk at stop lights like they want you to go thru it and over here going thru a red light can cost you as much as KD300 which to us would be $1,032.88 which is a stiff fine.
But, after all was said and done and my eyes were closed for most of the ride home it was a very good day. One month gone and just 2 more left and I will be home with my girls. Love you all and miss you much. Remember girls when daddy and I are gone you will be all each other has and to me that is important.
GOOD-BYE

Pic of the Day #3

I am taking the same shot for a month to see if anything or nothing changes. So we will see how this experiment works out.

We are workin for the week-end

Kuwait Towers and new Construction.

Me on the seawall at SoukSharq with a wonderful sunset in the background.

My handsome hubby with the sunset behind him.

The sunset over the Gulf.

Just a beautiful sunset framed by the palm trees.

The sun sinking deeper into the sky. It was just so beautiful to watch.

Fishing Boats

this is a shot of where all the fishing boats come in.

A heliport on top of one of the buildings in downtown Kuwait City.

A bombed out building which I guess will be torn down to make way for progress.

A closeup of Liberation Tower.

A poles reflection on the street in a rain puddle.

The rain

The view from Michael s patio door.

The day started out really nasty as it was raining and of course no umbrella so we got wet. But who cares as I just enjoyed the rain. It was refreshing and wonderful. Rain does not come often here in Kuwait so enjoy it when you can. So we drove into Avenues to see a movie and I really wanted to see Bride Wars but we got there late and had to end up seeing Revolutionary Road. I am not sure about this movie and I prefer Kate and Leo in Titanic more than this movie. It was hard for me to understand as it was set in the 50's which is a little before my time. But it was a good movie with some things I am sure cut out. After the movie we went to one of the stores in the mall that had a buy one get one free sale and I have been looking for a skirt so we went looking. I found a rather pretty one and a top to go with it and all for KD6.5 which is about $22 for us. Which I think was pretty good for what I got. I now need a nice pair of boots which I do have in the states but they do me no good here. We then drove over to the SoukSharq to go to Sultan Center and the most beautiful sunset. I took pics and they turned out so great. Then it was home and movie time but this time we watched when Harry met Sally.
Love to my girls and I do hope someone watches the Super Bowl for me. I am going crazy because I do not think I will be able to see it. GO STEELERS!!!!!! that is in memory of my dad. To Barb you know dad is going to be watching that game and enjoying every minute of it. My love to you and I do miss you.

Pic of the day #2

It was raining this morning when we got up. Same buildings just a little rain in the pic.

Driving In Kuwait

This will be my one and only rant about Kuwait as I love this country. I personally do not like the drivers over here and most of the time I am in the car my eyes have to be closed. There are women who drive in there full dress including their faces covered except for eyes and I have yet to figure out how they see anything but what is straight in front of them. They pull over 4 lanes without ever looking to see if anyone is in the other lanes and they all drive at 120 km or more and do not slow down for nothing. They do this snake maneuver which means they just pull in front of people and just keep going till they get a free lane. Children in cars going at a high rate of speed and are not in seat belts or safety seats and everyone drives new cars with the air bags and I have seen kids standing in the front seat playing in the front window. If that air bag should deploy that child would be dead and I have also seen them standing in front of their parent in the front seat and I just do not understand do they not know the force of those air bags when they deploy. Yes I know when I was a child we did not have safety seats just mom and dads arm but we also did not have these dangerous air bags to kids. If used right air bags save many lives but if used wrong they can kill.
People over here also drive at night without head lights on and that to me is extremely dangerous. My husband almost got hit and surely would have been killed as this car was going well over 120 km with no headlights on a dark road in the desert. My husband just happened to look in his mirror and caught a glint off the chrome on the front of the car. I just do not understand that but even police cars drive without head lights at night. Also beware if you are in a car accident and badly hurt because no one gets out of the way of a ambulance and I have seen this many times. The other problem is what my husband saw the other morning a really bad accident on 7th ring motorway and the ambulance had to go down the road at least 15km to find a place to make a u-turn. That to me is horrible. I will never drive over here as I am afraid to drive in US but it is 30 times worse here.
This country is a wonderful place to live but the way they drive just scares me. Oh well I am done and I am sure many people think people in the US drive worse but at least we have our kids belted in safety seats and we are belted in to. And if you break the law most of the time you will get a ticket.
Thank you all for letting me rant and I am now done. To everyone be safe and drive carefully.

It is the week-end

The pretty Palms swaying in the wind down by the Gulf.

The shadows

Michael sitting on the seawall in Fahaheel. We liked the shadows on the sand.

Me on the seawall in Fahaheel.

some of the local women walking. I think it would be so hot to be always wearing all black but that is just my opinion.

Another of those water fountains this one is done like Kuwait Towers I guess.

Our Dinner and it was soooooooo good.

traffic police car

regular police car

We went out for a ride Thursday after Michael got off of work and I saw more Police cars this day than I have seen the whole time I have been here. One was a traffic car and the other I guess was just police. Do not know what the difference is. Maybe I can find out. We drove into Fahaheel and took some pics along the sea wall down by the beach. The water was so still and you could hardly tell where the sky started and the water ended. It was so beautiful.

A picture a day for month

I have picked a point in my life in Kuwait which is a pic of between some of the buildings in front of Michael s Villa here in Egaila.

To put an eye or not

without the eye

with an eye

I am working on this quilt and would like some input does it look better with an eye or without the eye?

What we did this week-end 1/23-1/24/2008

This is a sign that you find all over the mall. So I guess if something happens this is where you go.

This is a sign that is along all of the highways and Michael says it means no motorcycle can jump over a car. LOL

The desert

more desert

The 2 signs above show how to get to the base that Michael works at. It is out in the middle of a vast desert. It takes him almost an hour to get to work every morning.

A really beautiful Mosque that is in the middle of the desert.

this is the sign to go to the desert.

Our week-end started on Friday. We got up and had breakfast and decided that we would go to a movie. So we looked up the movies playing at Avenues. We then decided to go see the "Underworld #3" as we had just finished watching the first two. So we got there a little early and had dinner at T.G.I.Friday's. Michael and I split a BBQ salad and some fried mushrooms. They were very good and for dessert we had there little shot glasses filled with goodies. After lunch we walked around the mall and then it was time to go to the movie. We picked our seats and off we went. The movie was good but left a lot of questions in my mind so we will go back to Movie #2. After that we walked around the mall one more time just for the exercise and to people watch. We then drove home.
On Saturday we got up and decided to take a drive out into the desert. I wanted to see how far Michael had to drive to work and also I wanted to see the real desert where there is nothing for miles. Well Michael delivered and showed me the hour long drive he has. It is a lonely drive to the middle of no where. I have loaded some pics above of our week-end. So that was the week-end and now it is back to work for Michael.
GO STEELERS!!!
I send my love to all I love and hope everyone is doing fine.

Happy Birthday Krista Michelle

On the day you were born it was a day of joy for our country and for your dad and I. I remember watching the TV and seeing Ronald Reagan getting sworn in as the President of the United States and the hostages were getting released from Iran. All the nurses wanted me to name you Reagan but my mother was the one who got to name you and that is why you have the name you do. You just happen to be the only girl in the nursery. So every 4 years for the rest of your life you share your Birthday with the new President. I also made you share your birthday with Jimbo which I really did not mean to baby it just happened. As I write this I am listening to my favorite song that Jimbo sang "Angel Eyes". So on this day you are part of history to remember for ever. So I do hope you had a great day without your father & I but always remember where ever we are we love you and will always love you.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY BABY

Working for the Week-end

Me sitting on the seawall at Souk Sharq.

This is a sign at the stop lights "A minute stop at the red signal=Human life. This statement is so true both here and at home. A lot of people just cruise right thru those red lights with no regard to others lives.

A small part of the outside of Avenues.

Another small section of Avenues.

Kuwait Towers as seen from Marina Mall.

Michael and I looking really cool, but what you do not know is he had to run really fast to get into the picture.

This is the picture that Michael did not make as he was to slow so it is of just me.

This is the water fountain inside of the Marina Mall. It is really neat in person.

Kuwait Towers

Sunset over Kuwait

Sunset over the Water Towers.

During this next week Kuwait is hosting an Economic Summit. On all the overpasses going into Kuwait City are the flags from all the countries that will be attending.

In Avenues Mall you must remember where you parked or you will be walking all day looking for a needle in a haystack.

An accident we saw on Arabian Gulf road. Do not know where the other car was.

Another accident

This truck somehow ended up heading in the wrong direction. So many accidents this day on Arabian Gulf rd.. They drive way to fast and with no regard to other cars. It is sometimes a free for all. I would never drive over here as it is just way to scary.

This is a home that has always fascinated me as it has palm trees on every level of the home.

This is the front of Michaels home. I love the bushes.

Friday is the official start of the week-end here. That is the Muslim holy day so like our sunday everything is closed. But you can go to the mall just like at home but unlike at home there are prayer rooms in the mall for the men & women to go do there prayers. So on friday here it is rather slow day and a good time to go do your shopping or just to drive around town. So on Friday we went into Avenues to do our weekly grocery shopping and the went to Souk Sharq and sat on the sea wall and just people watched. While at Avenues we kept smelling electrical smell. Well as we walked farther down the mall they had had a fire on the second floor in one of the shops and they were already getting the place cleaned up and people were acting like nothing happened. Life just went on. It is such a different place now then in the summer. The people come out during the day and you can enjoy being outside when the sun is out. We then went home. We watched Underworld #1 on Friday night and of course I got lost but Krista tells me I will understand more after I see number 2 which we will watch on Saturday night. So that was our Friday so now we are onto our exciting Saturday. Well we did not have the car in the AM as Greg had it and we are expecting to get the car at around noon and then we will be off on our day. We decided we would take a ride down the Arabian Gulf Rd. just to see the sights. We saw 3 accidents in a very short period of time and on we went. We ended up stopping at the Marina Mall as it was just a beautiful day. They had som sort of skateboarding thing going on so it was pretty packed with people watching that. We walked around and got some lunch in the food court and just enjoyed being together. We then walked back to the car and went back to Avenues to get a couple more things. Kuwait is hosting the "Economic Summit" on Monday and Tuesday so all the flags of all the countries are flying all over town. Traffic is going to be a nightmare during this time with a lot of road closures for the safety of all attending the summit. So there will probably be no trips into Kuwait City until Wednesday. We then went home and watched "Underworld #2" and I know understand things a lot better. So Michael and I will go to the Cinema and see #3 when it opens here next week. This should fill in a lot of those questions I have. Well all in all it was a great week-end. Sunday is a work day here so back to normal tomorrow. Love to my girls and there is only 11 more Mondays and dad & I will be home. I miss you all and hope you are all taking care of each other. Always remember in the end you are all that you have so let nothing destroy that. To Barb I do hope that all is well with you. I miss you so much and please know the girls are there if you need them. XXXXXOOOOO