Merry Christmas (though it's a week late) and Happy New Year!

Yup, I'm a slacker!

So Christmas was fairly decent, though SO different! It was about 20 degrees celsius outside, no snow, no Christmas tree, no presents, no family. But we had a nice time regardless.

Christmas eve was spent at the Colonel's house. We played a present swapping game, ate delicious food, drank, and were visited by a naughty Santa.

Just a bunch of Canadians on Christmas eve

Me, opening the pashmina I got from Santa (the Colonel)

On Christmas day, Rod, myself and two of our guy friends went out and did touristy things. 

 Like visiting Saidpur Village, which I love so dearly

 Chilling with monkeys on the Margalla Hills

 Going to see Faisal Mosque up close for the first time

 Everyone wanted a photo with the white people

 Hanging out at Rawal Lake (which really isn't much to write home about)

And having Thai food for dinner at Wild Rice in the Serena Hotel

I attempted to stay awake until 2am (damn you time zones) to Skype with the fam, and I only was able to see a few of them for literally 2 minutes because the connection was so shit (and it wasn't me this time!) which was really unfortunate, especially because I was tired, cranky, and missing home, and had stayed up WAY past my bedtime for nothing. Oh well. So I cried, and then dried my tears and went to bed so that Rod wouldn't know. "You shouldn't have come if you were going to miss them!" LOL are you for real? Of course I'm going to miss them, how could I not? But I'm still going to go out and live my life, and sure, I'll miss them along the way, no doubt about it, but I don't normally get that down about it. Ah well.

Then New Years Eve was pretty low key. We had signed up to go to the Brit Club and/or French Club but instead we just went to the Canada Club, watched the hockey game, drank by the fire, listened to Rod play the guitar, and got wasted. A little too wasted. It doesn't happen often at all though, so I guess it's okay to let loose every once in awhile. Except I was laid out on the couch for the entirety of New Years Day, which was a complete waste. 

Did anyone make any resolutions this year? I never do, but I decided I would this year. 

Get healthy, quit smoking, save money for a down payment on a house, travel travel travel, and quit biting my nails are among them. Hopefully I'll keep to most, if not all, of them! *fingers crossed*

Thanksgiving

On Monday night, the Canada Club held a belated thanksgiving dinner, since all the spouses were away in Dubai for the first one.

It was really nice to all be together, and have a "family dinner". We may not all be family, but it sure feels like it! We fight, we laugh, we cry, and we take care of one another. We're really fortunate that the mission here is so small. Others are huge and it doesn't really allow you to get close to many people. Take D for instance, he's here on temporary duty for 6 weeks from the embassy in London. There, he has no friends, no club, no social life, and he hates it! So as crazy as it can be here in Islamabad at times, we're really lucky.

Home Sweet Home

I arrived back in Islamabad last Thursday after a 3 week stint in Dubai. While I'm more than grateful that I had the opportunity to visit Dubai (for free - I would have never gone if I had to pay for it), I am definitely happy to be back. I missed my hubby, my house, my bed, and just my normal life here. Whatever that is.

And can I just say that Emirates Business Class is pretty much amazing.

I had a ridiculous amount of leg room, and the seats reclined so much, that I could literally lay flat on my back (granted, I am only 5'3" but still). There was a privacy screen, so that when I was laying down, I couldn't see anyone else. Even when I was sitting up, I couldn't see my neighbour. So that was really nice! Especially since I was sitting next to a stranger. The food was amazing, and there was unlimited alcohol (however, I don't drink before or during flights because I don't want to get all messed up - although this time, I had half a glass of champagne before the flight as the Business Lounge had the expensive stuff, and I'd never tried it before). Not to mention that I am terrified of flying, but because business class is so nice, you're really relaxed, and I did not freak out or panic once. 

Too bad I can't afford to fly business class every time. But even then, some business classes aren't even that good. Like when I moved to the Netherlands, I think I flew Air Canada, and sorry to say, it wasn't that great. 

Home away from home

Almost a week since we've lived here and I'm still enjoying myself. There were a few days where I was a little bummed out (mainly because I hate having rules and not being able to wear what I want was starting to piss me off), but I met a lovely French-Canadian couple who are our neighbours, and they've really made me feel welcome. J is sweet, loving, and just a generally all around nice person, and her husband R is great too. They invited us to lunch at the club a few days ago when I first met them, then we had a delicious home cooked meal at their house last night, made by their chef. Yes, they have a chef, most people do, along with maids, gardeners, even car washers. It's going to be quite difficult moving back to Canada and leaving all these luxuries behind.

The chef cooked up a delicious veal dish, with a yummy gravy type of sauce, the best mashed potatoes I've had in a long time, and green beans and tomatoes, along with a very unusual salad that was to die for and a brownie cake for dessert. I don't even like green beans but they were amazing, probably because I haven't had a home cooked meal in forever. We are having lunch with them again today, and then on Sunday night we're having dinner.

Another thing that has bummed me out is the time difference. I'm 9 hours ahead of home, so it's been pretty difficult to call home. Rod gets home from work at 6pm, we usually go to the gym, have a swim and then dinner. So by the time I'm done all that, it's pretty much bed time. And when I do want to call home, like right now, it's 11am so nobody's awake.