Kirk in June

Kirk arrived 24 hours ago.  I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am to have him here.  Of course, our plans have changed significantly in the past month on what we are going to do.  We are now planing a July wedding in New York City.  Right now it will be at the City Hall, but we have some other things we are thinking about too.

New York is an easy flight in and out for us.  We were having a hard time getting married outside the US so we are happy to head closer to home just to make sure we are legal in Dubai.  Since we are trying to do the right thing, Kirk is living in a hotel right now for the next month.  He will not move in to the apartment until we are married.  This will cost us extra money, but it will keep us out of trouble and out of Jail.  They say there are a lot of couples living here that are not married, but I just don't want to take that chance.  Plus we enforce the laws and company policy on our employees - I need to stand by what I say to others and abide by the same.  We get to spend a little bit of time together each day and that is much better than not seeing each other at all.  I am happy to have him here!

When I picked him up from the airport yesterday I went to go touch his arm because I was so excited to see him.  In the UAE it is offensive for a man to touch a woman in any way in public.  And if we showed any kind of affection for each other we could be arrested and thrown in jail for 3 months.  We have to watch ourselves really well here.  I am so used to holding his hand and being close to him.  Once we got in to his hotel room to drop off his stuff, he burried me in his arms and we just hugged for what seemed like hours.  It was such a nice feeling.

Kirk will get a bit more acclimated here and get over his jet lag before he starts job hunting.  He will start aggressively on Monday.  Until then, we will spend what time we can together.  It has been almost 4 months since we had seen each other.  It is almost like we are starting to date all over again.  I am glad I get to experience that again with him.

A couple of days before Kirk arrived I received another care package from my mom.  It contained my big pink fuzzy blanket, my pillow, hair dye and some shirts I bought online.  I slept on my pillow for the second time and boy did I miss it!  That is the best pillow EVER!!!!

Working the night shift is so different.  I am the only one in the office for most of my 12 hour shift.  So it is quiet and I get a lot done. However, it is also so very boring.  On nights when it is slow I feel like I am going to fall asleep.  I drink a lot of tea or coffee to keep myself awake.  I also try to pace out my work load so that I don't have to worry about too many long breaks that would tempt me to wander over to the comfy couch and doze off.  I don't plan on ever sleeping on my shift but I know the others before me and the others at the other locations do.  I think there should be two people on this shift in each location to hold each person accountable for staying awake!  Ahhh but two people means half the work load and way too much time on my hands!  I will stick to just one of me thank you!

Too many lessons

The past few weeks have been very tough for me.  I have had to learn some hard lessons and really had to humble myself.  I hit 10 years with the company I work for yet it seems that the past few months I have been working for a different company.  The two divisions are NOT the same - in any aspect except the main name.  If I could, I would go back to the other division in a heart beat.  But I am here so I need to make the best of it.

I have given up (willingly) my previous duties and I will now be working in a different capacity.  I say willingly because I am relieved to be out from under it - but it was actually taken from me.  I am sure glad they did because I was drowning and couldn't keep up. It is bitter sweet.  I now have to concentrate and do my best in my new role.  This new role will bring me to working nights for a while.  I will pretty much be back on USA time.

My biggest and bestest care package will be heading my way in less than 10 days.  Kirk is coming to live with me here!  He leaves Jun 15 and will arrive Jun 16 in the evening.  I am so excited and it will take a lot of the stress off my shoulders.  I can finally relax and know that everything will be alright.  As long as we have each other to lean on, life will be grand.  I am incredibly grateful that he is willing to give up everything to be with me.  I will return the favor once my year here is up.

Since Kirk is coming out early, we will be married as soon as possible.  We have decided to give up Greece for now as it is just not financially smart for us to spend that kind of money right now.  Plus Greece is in much turmoil and looks like a civil war may break out soon.  We are going to look in to going to Thailand for a week and then spend the rest of our vacation here in Dubai or in the surrounding areas.  Of course all is up in the air right now and I will know more once he gets out here and we can plan a little better.

Kirks main priority, besides come here with me, will be to find a job.  He is looking at working in Asia and making Dubai his home base.  We will see what all pans out once he can spend some time looking around here and putting his resume in.  His job is one that is very specialized and in high demand so it should be very easy for him to find something.

Tonight I had some free time so I actually got out to see some sites.  I went over to the Irish Village for Dinner.  There are several restaurants that surround the Dubai tennis stadium.  It was very peaceful and I settled on Sushi.  It was okay, but I really enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere.  Next time I go, I will take some pictures.