A date with George !

This one's for Michelle, who needs a date ;-) ...and the date sadly isn't with George Clooney, but with my favorite camel, George, now about 4 months old and standing tall at 135 cm. He is now joining the rest of the herd around our date palm plantation, munching on fallen dates.

Slim and I were at the Ranch a whole morning last weekend; I walked Lola up to the grassy area (a treat when you live in a desert 24/7 ) and Slim was busy chasing goats and ducks.

It is now the 8th day of Ramadan and dates play an important role in the fasting and Iftar events.

Dates are rich in fibre, potassium and amino acids and used to be part of an Arab's diet as this "nature's candy" was easy to process and did not require refrigeration. Dates are also full of other good things: B-complex vitamins, iron and selenium which is a good anti-oxidant, and it is a great low calorie sweet.

Don't judge the boy by the cover

Well it was inevitable! Having Aric escort Aidan to Arizona State University is a receipe for trouble. No sooner did they land in Tempe, shower, hit a bar for a beer and before you know it, Aric has chatted up the bartender for info on where Aidan can get a fake ID, so he can get into the clubs! Somehow our priorities just aren't in sync.

You know if I went with Aidan, the first thing he would have is a bank account with the highest interest on eSavings!!

Like father like son!!

Aidan just got his Suncard. No it's not a card for unlimited tanning sessions...rather it's his card for everything....food, books, supplies....top up and go! My boy is ready!

The last few weeks have been busy with preparation for Aidan leaving...making sure he is pre-checked in; making sure he has a decent doctor so he can get his ADHD meds; making sure he has his 1040 filed for next year's independant resident status; making sure he has his linens; making sure he has a decent bank; making sure he is signed up for orientation....the MOM has been busy while the DAD booked accommodations the morning they were flying out! That's my hubster...flying by the seat of his pants just like when we were newlyweds!

A few weeks ago Aidan was notified online who his roomie was going to be. Likewise for the roomie - who kindly reached out to Aidan on Facebook (is there any other way to introduce yourself in the 21st century?) So it sounds like Dane is a good guy; from Staten Island NY, blond, blue eyes, a dancer....wait...SCREETCH HALT...a dancer?? Oh, perhaps contemporary, hip-hop, street dancer?? Well, who really knows? Aidan didn't ask, to my deep frustration! "Mom!! it's all gonna be part of our get-to-know-eachother-session the first week" !! Dane works at E-Square on Staten Island (a quick google by the MOM tells us they specialize in one stop Party Planning; Dj Services (so far, so harmless) Video & Photography, Pipe & Draping ( huh???), Vip & Cabana (what - as in cabana boy??)) Furniture, Photo Booths etc. (etc??)

OK you can guess where my imagination is headed!

So he could be a pipe cleaner, but how does that fit with dance - unless it's incorporated into a Stomp performance? Perhaps he's a DJ? Singing, dancing telegram? Wedding singer/dancer? Am I reaching for answers here?

When we were out for my birthday dinner, the discussion went on for hours around whether he might be a dancer with a little more jazz-pizzaz...a little more exotic....a little more Chippendale...Hey who wants to end up with thousands in student loans?

Aidan said if Dane could teach him how to dance like they do in the Full Monty, and make $2000 a week, he would go for it. Of course after a few Martinis, Aidan's parents said he might need to beef up the abs a little first! I did notice that AIdan neglected to pack any underwear that might be construed as "edgy" just in case his roomie checks out the details!!

We shall soon know what Dane is majoring in ;-) it's all part of the "mom needs to know" agreement (or maybe mom doesn't want to know) - in the end, who really cares? I'm sure the two boys will become great friends and who are we to judge?

Get this party started!

Once we put the glasses on the lobster it was pretty much downhill from there! One would have thought I turned 30, we were all celebrating like we were teens...the only problem is, none of us can drink like we could when we were teens.

Fabulous night out with my three boys on Thursday - Okku's for sushi, it's my fave place in Dubai, super food and ambiance. Then brunch on Friday, with lots of friends and Mark and Tina (my brother) who had to call in sick to avoid the whole alcohol test before flying issue...can't drink and captain a plane!!

I've only vague recollection but I do believe it was a great birthday! Judging from the photos...who can disagree?

Full Moon Fever!

The heat is seriously getting to people! It's hitting 47-48C (116F) !!! And 60-75% humidity. It's enough to make even the most sane people go looney.

Add to that the full moon on the 15th, which can have effects plus / minus 4 days and you have a cocktail for strange behaviors.

Here I was a few days ago, coming out of my lawyer's office on Sheikh Zayed Road, very happy with myself, because although the Cisco lawyers came back with an offensive and totally idiotic counter offer - it has become obvious that they were never briefed adequately by HR, which strengthens my case further. So my lawyer is now pulling out all ammo to hit back and it is not going to be pretty (I've got a tiger in a kitten's disquise) just my kind of woman! Ah but I digress....I turned onto a side road to go back to the World Trade Center roundabout (a cross between Basingstoke's worst roundabout and Arc De Triumphe in Paris) - and I looked and looked again, making sure I could take my right turn in peace. All clear, I drive out, center myself in the middle lane - only to see a person behind me in a Landrover, gesturing so dramatically that I thought: either the guy has Cerebral Palsy or it's Joe Cocker driving behind me! Shaking his head, throwing his hands up in the air continuously, he could have been nominated for over actor of the year. We eventually hit the roundabout and we ended up next to eachother with a lane between us. I rolled down my window and for once I was calm and collected because clearly I did nothing wrong; so I was curious what the hell his issue was.

Pia: "What is your problem?"
Joe Cocker Man in Landrover, taking off his sunglasses like he is the new Horacio from CSI Miami and in posh British accent (think Hugh Grant in Two Weeks Notice):
"My problem is that you're a crap driver! You can't help it, you're a woman!"
Pia - about to fall out of my 4x4 all wheel Toyota and by now yelling over a taxi who has pulled up in lane between us: "Oh excuuuuuuuuuuuse me for being born pal, but you nearly ended up in my gas tank, so I don't think you should be talking about bad driving!"
Joe Cocker Man in Landrover, clearly smug and overpaid British banker: "You pulled out right in front of me!"
Pia (now really pissed that he is getting a bonus when half the world is defaulting on their mortgages): "I did not, I looked twice and it was 100% clear, so obviously you went too fast on a two lane road, which is not my problem, but yours! But have a nice day sweetheart!"
British overpaid banker: "you too popsy pie!" POPSY PIE?????

I swear it was the full moon and high temp - plus the fact that he is probably a summer bachelor (wifey and kiddos gone back to Cornwall to spend the summer in cooler climate, while hubby has pent up frustration for being left behind to work during Ramadan - no wonder he acted like Joe Cocker)....AAARRRGGHHH!! One, two, three, fo..... I'm cool!!

Well, not worth blowing a gasket over. My next stop was the US consulate where Aric and I had to have several important documents notarized. It's a long story but we are now nearly divorced on paper, with separate bank accounts, me turning over all US property to him and him signing the offshore investment plans over to me! Thanks Obama and IRS!

Going to the US consulate always raises our blood pressure, because truly, they act like you are coming in with a pocket full of anthrax. Every frigging document and piece of personal belonging is scanned, x-ray'ed and searched over and over three times by the time you reach the 21st floor of the World Trade Center. Once you get to the final counter, the person goes, hey, what's up, what can we do for you today? WELL FOR STARTERS YOU CAN ACT LIKE YOU ACTUALLY RESPECT A US CITIZEN!! (that of course would not apply to me, the FBI wanted fugitive that I am...I'm just happy to be let in the door and I always let hubster do the talking ;-)

Tomorrow will have me two years away from 50! Or as I like to say...I'm thirty-eighteen! Quite a ripe but prime age I'd say. I know enough to get into trouble and I know enough to keep me out of trouble!

Let's manage expectations!

Business 101 - manage expectations. Parenting 101 - manage expectations!

In just about 5 weeks we head to S. Africa for a wedding. My good friend Taddy Blecher, social entrepreneur and founder of the free university in Johanneburg and his lovely bride Annie, will celebrate their wedding (in Iowa in June), with a reception for the friends on the other continent. Hunter is coming with us and is then staying on for 16 more days to do some voluteer work for Taddy. He will either help with math / English tutoring around the university, or help out at an orphanage, or at the large nature & animal reserve donated to Taddy by the Oppenheimers. We don't have a clear idea yet what Hunter will be involved in, but needless to say it will be a fantastic experience.

Very apropos, in the newspaper this morning was an article about the value of volunteer work and charity to your CV. I told Hunter about it and he responded "mom, I know - why do you think I'm going to S. Africa? I want to have that on my CV for college!" Doah!! How silly of me to think he wanted to help the African children....let's not get confused here. We need to manage expectations! "Besides, mom - it will also give me credit for CAS (creativity, action and service -a needed element of the IB Diploma) and the Duke of Edinburgh Award!" Well there you go, my son truly cares. I knew I had raised him with a desire to help the needy.

A memory springs to mind to when we left the US for Denmark in the summer of 1999 and sold all our worldly possesions in a garage sale for 10 cents on the dollar. Aidan, then age 7, told me he thought we should keep the house and let homeless people live in it. That came from the heart. Hunter's heart is just a little bit more hidden.... ;-)

Despite what his reasons for going seem to be, I am certain that this will turn out to be a life changing experience for him. Anybody who has spent even a few days in Johannesburg can vouch for the great disparity between have and have not and need for better social and educational conditions. I bet he comes back humbled!

What comes around, goes around!

You can say I'm addicted to my horoscope. The one delivered by Susan Miller is my favorite as she is always spot on!

Just downloaded the July horoscope a few days ago and it is again proving to be accurate. For one, my sign (Cancer) has been hit hard by a long series of eclipses - both solar and moon - 3 the past few months! Eclipses usually signal an end of something. They are famous for ending situations that have no future and help us fix things that are broken. So doesn't that just sound perfect as I near my end with Cisco?

• The new moon July 30 will be dedicated to helping me see more money in my bank account!



• July 27 I can expect fabulous career news!



• Both June 1 and June 15 eclipses will bring news on July 6 and July 26....here we go folks, last night (on July 6) I got word that Major Asshole (the VP who caused my demise) was asked to leave the Emerging Markets organization end of July! There it is, word it to yo mother, you got it, aha - oh YEAH!! KARMA!!

Victory, justice and halleluja - I'm gonna sit down with a glass of wine and enjoy a good movie. Aidan is in Fujeirah with Courtney and her family and Hunter is working tonight. Just me, myself, I and lil' Slimmy.

There 's a gecko in my boot!

Who would have thought that we have little critters in the sandbox? Sure I see lots of tracks when I ride in the desert - scorpions, spiders, lizards, snakes, hares, fox, gazelles (camels and horses). I just don't see much actual life there during the day. Once in a great while a gecko will run across the sand and then quickly burrow down. Funny pale little monsters.

Aside from the rat climbing down the side of the house one late night this winter, we don't see a lot of creepy crawlies around the garden. The occasional gecko likes to sit above the light at the side door and drive Slim crazy because he can't reach it.

I keep my riding boots outside the door to keep sand and dirt away. Every time I go riding, I just slip my feet into the boots without thinking. (At 6am you don't think much, it's basicly on auto pilot from bed to car, to petrol station for ice coffee, to ranch). This time, something squirmed around the toes in my left boot and I totally freaked out. Car keys and sunglasses went one way in the driveway and my body went the other....kicked off the boot and out comes a 2-inch gecko....he looked a lot more horrified than I was, and soon scurried under a bucket. Sh*t - I nearly had a heart attack and I could potentially have awoken the whole subdivision with my screams. Geckos are harmless and we need them to eat the bugs we don't want around.

Had dinner with my brother a few days ago; we are both alone at the moment - Tina and Josefine are in Denmark and Aric is in the US for work (and golf, golf and a little golf). So I told Mark the gecko story and he mentioned that he has spiders. Not many and not big, but the girls are terrified of them and he is at wits end. He then told me that Camel spiders are the worst...we started googling them and YouTubing the ones filmed in Iraq. I think we have them here too but I've never seen any - not even at the ranch, which you'd think would be a haven with hay and sand and stables. Apparently they can get so big that they eat geckos...how come where there a little critters, there are always bigger ones and bigger ones....

The day I find a camel spider in my boot I will truly freak!