Giving Thanks

What I am Thankful for...
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to all of our friends and family back in Canada! We had dinner last night with 400 or so other Canadians, at the Sheraton on the Corniche. It was an all Canadian gathering, complete with the national anthems (in English and francais), Canadian music (Michael Buble and Shania) topped off with pumpkin pie cheesecake (they tried) and a very yummy carrot cake. A was a darling, and allowed all of us to enjoy our meals. As long as she was allowed to eat 'finger food' (basically, anything on my plate was fair game), she was content. Thankfully, they intercepted the smoking population very early into the evening, and made a 'no smoking' announcement at the start of dinner...this helped us all to breathe a lot easier (literally). Coming from a non-smoking city, as soon as someone lights up around here, I find that we are all very sensitive to it. Fortunately, Abu Dhabi is going to be instituting a smoking ban in the very near future (expected to be in place by the end of October).
We have just passed another weekend in AD. We went to Marina Mall (again) and yet I managed to not view the indoor ski hill (again). I did however buy some clothes (a white top made with moisture wicking fabric...tested it out twice on the Corniche...works pretty good) and some light and breathable capri pants. They were having a 'part sale' at the Sun Sand and Sport store. Nobody we know is really sure what a 'part' sale is...all I figure is the clothes are only 'partly' on sale...not all the way...P seems reasonably content with this explanation.
A and I spent an hour this afternoon in the pool. We managed to make some friends (although they will all be temporary). Deborah and her husband are from Cochrane, AB (leave it to me to seek out another Albertan!). Her husband is teaching a course here for a few days, and surprised her with a ticket to join him. Apparently he comes out several times a year. Rachel's husband John is a pilot for Etihad. Apparently our hotel is a temporary home to many pilots from Etihad. Rachel has been out here for 3 months, but it looks like Friday will be there last day, as they have finally gotten through all the hoops required to secure their flat. She is leaving behind a lovely home in the U.K., but like myself, is withholding all judgements on AD for at least 6 months (after she has her own place).
It felt really nice to spend some time talking to other adults. I have been finding the charms of living in a hotel are waning. I am really looking forward to moving into our villa and having some space (like, at least another room) so that poor P doesn't have to tiptoe around in the mornings, so as not to wake us up (which, sadly, due to my light-sleeping nature, he does anyway).
Anyways, on to the things I am thankful for (and I'm sure I'll miss a few). I am thankful that my parents called me this morning. Despite the fact that I was half-asleep, and that the two phones in the room did not work and I had to run to the third phone in the bathroom to get it, I was very glad to hear their voices. I miss them a lot! I wish they would call me more (even though there isn't really all that much to talk about). I am thankful that they are taking such good care of Phinn. I miss Phinn a great deal. I miss his little nails scratching my hand and demanding a belly-rub, his snuffles at night, and I miss hearing A say 'mmmm-ahhhh' as she gives him a kiss. I can't wait till she can do that again. I am thankful that A is such a wonderful and sweet little baby. I am glad that she is healthy and strong, and that really, she doesn't give me a lot of grief. It is so amazing to see her walking around all over the place, and mimicking all of these new actions (last night she was practising how to hail a taxi cab in AD..neither her nor I had much success). I can tell that she is going to grow up too fast for my liking. Also, she is really helping me to make new friends...her cuteness is a real ice-breaker! I am thankful that her newest tooth (bottom centre left) has finally almost errupted out of the gum-line, without giving her too much pain. I am thankful to P...for many things, but mostly for being a good friend to me. He has brought me to a new life, half a world away from my old one...would I ever have considered this without him? He encourages me to always do what I want to do, when I want to do it. He always has so much confidence in me, in my abilities to handle myself in new and different experiences. I am thankful for all of my old friends, for all the e-mails...you make me feel not so far away. And finally, I'm thankful for everything new...the places, the people, the experiences, that are coming into my life now.