The Griffin Sand Box: I'm an American!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So this week we went to music class for Jacob...which he LOVES, then we went to the US Embassy on the 20th to "make" Maddie an American. The people at the Embassy were really friendly and the grounds are pretty. We couldn't take pictures there...but she did very well. We will get her passport and Social Security card soon...See, she isn't a Qatari...but being born to two Americans abroad no longer makes you American unless you are born on the military base. Post 9/11 you have to actually go and declare her American....as my friend Kelli said, the things you take for granted. We went to the dr. for her 6 weeks check up. She is 8 pounds 7 ounces...we go see a specialist at the BIG hospital tomorrow for her hips. Clifton got to meet some cool folks have some neat meetings this week. Pretty normal week for Doha.

I am running into so grocery problems...I heard this will happen. One place will have no cheddar cheese, one place will have no ketchup, one place with no meat that I like and on and on. The grocery prices that you probably hear quibs about on the news are a big deal in this part of the world. Grabs the headlines everyday. There has been a 30% increase in a year in Doha alone. Very hard on the folks that don't make that much.

Funny stuff this week. I told Clifton if he wanted something picked up, then he needed to do it because I was busy...Jacob turned around and looked at his dad and said, "Daddy , you always have to clean this shit up" We bought a few movies ... two of which are truck movies that are filmed in Canada...they are about 90 minutes a piece...they are horrible. It's just videos of trucks working and an idiot who narrates and tries to make voices for each of the trucks and makes up songs about the trucks...but

A: he has no creativity so his songs are him singing in a really bad voice "I'm a digger digging in the dirt I dig dig dig all day in the dirt. Dirt Dirt Dirt, Dig Dig Dig Digging in the dirt all day. " Or "doodely doodely doodely doodely keeping the streets so clean, I'm scrubbing and scraping and sweeping keeping the strets so clean, doodely doodely doodely doodely keeping the streets so clean"

B: He is a Canadian and he tries to make all the trucks have either southern or New York accents. Canadians should not try to impersonate Americans...eh

C: they show a washer truck washing off all the streets...this goes against everything that I believe in. Everything I have spent years learning and teaching and writing publications about (in a past life) They wash off the filth on their streets like fuel, oil, detergent, antifreeze, dog poop and molasses into the untreated storm drains..so we and I mean WE as in Americans down stream can drink the dirty Canadian water.

I think I am building a resentment against Canada actually, which is not good...because most of my friends here are Canadians...but seriously, even my Canadian shopping friend told me Tuesday that she scowls whenever anyone asks if she's from the states. Mainly because she doesn't like our leadership, I don't care much for him either... but that doesn't mean anything. Why scowl...we are much more fun than Canada...Who runs Canada...no one knows, because no one cares. It's like Robin Williams once said, "Canada...it's like the loft apartment above the really great party" I won't even get into what South Park says...

D: I should add that Jacob LOVES these two movies and watches them constantly ...it is Jacob crack....aughhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

You can click on any of the pictures for a closer view.

Daddy and Maddie sleeping

Jacob and I had a Camp Griffin shout out!!!!

Once again playing broom guitar

Part of the backyard, bet we annoy the neighbors with all our Aggie stuff on our house :)

Taking Maddie to the US Embassy....can't take pictures of the building...so we we will take pictures of the sign...I do want you to notice that the ENTIRE country is under construction...there is not one square inch of this city that doesn't have a hazard construction....

I wore my Watermelon dress to become an American, aren't I cute!!!!

My dad and I outside the Embassy...we were not allowed to take cameras in.

I'm going to the embassy

Me and Mom

Bad Ass Shoes from Gran Pearly

Education city from afar...look at the cranes...this accounts for maybe 10% of the cranes on campus

Our compound

Our entrance

Wedding tent by our house...they had a 15 minute firework show at midnight on Thursday that would have put the Bush Library to shame...these people are all about excess when it comes to weddings and babies.

Another wedding tent in the same place

Clifton got his hair cut at the "saloon" on the left

So we didn't take the following pictures....this is actually from a website called WTF only in Doha ...these have been taken around town, we have seen some of them.

Pimp my ride