I apologize for not keeping regularly updated accounts on my blog. But since I had so precious little time to spend with my boys, I wanted to focus it all on them. I went out and played basketball with my boys and then played catch with the football with Spencer. Stuff I love to do and something a dad should do with his boys. I love my kids so much. I hate being away from them. They always throw it in my face that I chose to live in Bahrain (something X drills into them). Yes that is true. But I was thinking about this earlier. It seems that there is the most conflict with X whenever I am coming back into town, or whenever I have a potential love interest. The conflict seems to ratcheted up a few levels on that end. Plus we have this whole “drama addiction” which X denies that plays out every 3-4 weeks. If I lived closer the kids would be more directly caught in the crossfire. Since I live so far away the kids are only indirectly affected. So in a sense, I think this is the best situation for them under the present circumstances. I do love my kids, but until X and new hubby start tabling their bitterness and stop projecting their issues onto me, this will continue. I have forgiven them and thus I can honestly say I have peace in my heart about this whole situation. Anytime that God calls you to do difficult things, he’ll give you the strength to be able to do it. I told you that I suspected that X was deleting the emails that I’ve been sending to my daughter, and I don’t think that’s the case. Instead, I think they somehow blocked me from sending the emails to her. I forwarded all the email to my mother’s account and then she forwarded them onto Lindsey who then finally said she got them. Im sure X will deny this, as she denies everything that makes her look bad.
My middle son said something today. He said my youngest acts around three years younger when he’s with me. Now my youngest and I get along great. He’s my sports buddy. We have so much fun laughing and playing together. He’s a great playmate and we are very silly most of the time. My middle son tells me that the youngest is usually more shy and quiet when he’s at the other house, which leads me to believe that he is more comfortable and more of himself around me for some reason. I wish there was someway I could raise the boys full time over here. But that would take a miracle. I do believe I would provide the best environment for them. Boys need to be with their dads, while girls need to be with their moms. I firmly believe that. So if you are a believer, please pray for that to happen. I would love to have my boys full time. It’s a pipe dream at this point since I don’t want to put them through the legal battle and the emotion turmoil, but I server a great God.
As far as working overseas away from the kids. I know that during this season it’s the right thing to do. I still do love my job and its nice have stable employment overseas with the economy so bad in the U.S. right now.
Im writing to you from the Business Class lounge in the Dubai Airport. I just qualified as a gold member so I can enjoy this amazing place. I was telling Ms. Florida that being in this lounge makes me feel rich. It is massive. They have 24 hours food and beverage service, video games for kids, showers, bedrooms, wireless, tv’s, and probably 100 couches and lounges. This place has everything. Im here for a 7 hour layover so its really easy for me to relax and get comfortable here. The flight from Houston to Dubai seemed really short. It was only 14 hours as opposed to the 17 hour flight going the other way. I am acclimating to the travel. The first day is always the weirdest, eating dinner at breakfast time, and vice versa. I’m kind of a fog right now, as I only slept about four hours on the plan. I get back to Bahrain at 3:00 am. So I’ll sleep for a couple of hours and then head to work. Im not sure if the office will be open or not, as Im not sure about the Eid holiday. Im kind of playing that one by ear.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
More venom
What a nice day I had with the boys. I won’t be able to see my daughter again, but at least I get my boys Im happy about that. The boys have to re-acclimate to me. They’ve warmed up now, and it is absolutely wonderful. Im not going to write a lot the rest of the week as Im going to focus on the precious few hours that I have with them.
Instead, Im going to copy and paste an email I got today from new hubby. I think he reveals plenty of his character through this. New hubby and X can justify their actions and twist their words with the best of them. I realize by posting and even responding to their shenanigans is simply adding fuel to their smoldering fire. I can’t defend myself directly to them. That last 10 times Ive communicated verbally to them over the phone has ended with a barrage of cursing and them hanging up on me. Which my daughter is now doing as they have modeled for her. I realize Im taking the bait and feeding into the drama addiction that they need. This addiction had been fueled throughout the entire time that I have known X, but since the hatred wasn’t directed to me I didn’t think it was an issue. Well it is now. Im posting this to let you know that your prayers are still needed. This is to give you more a tangible example why.
From: seanandloriboyle@*********
Subject: Joke
Date: November 27, 2009 6:40:57 AM PST
To: rickbeeman@mac.com
You are a chicken shit joke. You keep in saying in the blog for us not to read it, but yet it is the only way you communicate with us, subtle digs and accusations in the blog...only doing so there so all of your 'friends' and family will be able to see it and send pity your way. You accuse us of this and that, but have never done anything about it, never once able to prove any of it is true, just lots of your own psychobabble and now accusations of deleting E-mails. Get a fucking clue, again, like I said before, you are not that important. We do not care that the kids talk to you, see you, get E-mails from you.....we beg you to do it more often, to be more a part of their life...THEIR life. Now that you have chosen to move around the world (oh by the way, were you are were you not manipulating the boys with electronic items, puppies, etc. and letting it be their choice to go with you....and when they decided not to you got mad and said they should not be able to choose) without even asking them if it was ok, you made them give up their right to be able to see you 2-3 times a month and on Holidays and for a whole month in the summer. THEY had to give up that right to see you, you choose to give up that right to see them, they were FORCED to give it up the second you moved. You say that there is manipulation to have the kids stay here with their 'new' family and not allowed to be with your family? Are you serious, ask your parents and the kids how many times we have tried to work out times for them to fly out here and see the kids, or the kids fly to California to see them. Ask you parents if the kids call or not, because that was us who suggested to them that every Sunday they call all of their grandparents. (ITEM DELETED about my son) Funny, you say that you can write whatever you want about us, the kids, our life (ALL of us), but when we expose something in your life you quickly delete it.
And finally about the Christmas visit....the kids only wanted to be with us one or two days during your possible nine day visit. One day when the baby is born and one when it comes home, so you are going to pout and throw a temper tantrum and give up a whole week with them? You could have been here Thursday night and Friday right after school, you didn't show until after 7pm. And you could have been here Tuesday (yes, 10 weeks ago we did say Wednesday, and it never crossed our minds again...and so we did make a mistake) and had them until Sunday. You could have been here Monday and Tuesday to go to lunch with them. You seem to always be pointing the finger at us and blaming us for not seeing the kids, but when you do fly here to see them, you give up time with them.
We are not perfect, we know that, but you think there is so much hate and some sort of agenda against you in this house, well as I said before....to Lori and Sean you are not that important, we don't waste our time trying to be vindictive towards you, we are far too busy with all of the things going on in our lives to sit and think up some evil plans. So we honestly we do hope you and your parents enjoy your time with the boys this weekend (which it sounded like Max did yesterday and for that we are thankful),but please...as Lindsey has asked, do not go by her work, she is there to work and not to be distracted by someone she doesn't want to see.
Also, we know that this will end up on the blog, but please see that again we are trying to communicate with you directly, not over the blog or through the kids (having the kids ask us something, or the boys trying to convince Lindsey to do something).
Instead, Im going to copy and paste an email I got today from new hubby. I think he reveals plenty of his character through this. New hubby and X can justify their actions and twist their words with the best of them. I realize by posting and even responding to their shenanigans is simply adding fuel to their smoldering fire. I can’t defend myself directly to them. That last 10 times Ive communicated verbally to them over the phone has ended with a barrage of cursing and them hanging up on me. Which my daughter is now doing as they have modeled for her. I realize Im taking the bait and feeding into the drama addiction that they need. This addiction had been fueled throughout the entire time that I have known X, but since the hatred wasn’t directed to me I didn’t think it was an issue. Well it is now. Im posting this to let you know that your prayers are still needed. This is to give you more a tangible example why.
From: seanandloriboyle@*********
Subject: Joke
Date: November 27, 2009 6:40:57 AM PST
To: rickbeeman@mac.com
You are a chicken shit joke. You keep in saying in the blog for us not to read it, but yet it is the only way you communicate with us, subtle digs and accusations in the blog...only doing so there so all of your 'friends' and family will be able to see it and send pity your way. You accuse us of this and that, but have never done anything about it, never once able to prove any of it is true, just lots of your own psychobabble and now accusations of deleting E-mails. Get a fucking clue, again, like I said before, you are not that important. We do not care that the kids talk to you, see you, get E-mails from you.....we beg you to do it more often, to be more a part of their life...THEIR life. Now that you have chosen to move around the world (oh by the way, were you are were you not manipulating the boys with electronic items, puppies, etc. and letting it be their choice to go with you....and when they decided not to you got mad and said they should not be able to choose) without even asking them if it was ok, you made them give up their right to be able to see you 2-3 times a month and on Holidays and for a whole month in the summer. THEY had to give up that right to see you, you choose to give up that right to see them, they were FORCED to give it up the second you moved. You say that there is manipulation to have the kids stay here with their 'new' family and not allowed to be with your family? Are you serious, ask your parents and the kids how many times we have tried to work out times for them to fly out here and see the kids, or the kids fly to California to see them. Ask you parents if the kids call or not, because that was us who suggested to them that every Sunday they call all of their grandparents. (ITEM DELETED about my son) Funny, you say that you can write whatever you want about us, the kids, our life (ALL of us), but when we expose something in your life you quickly delete it.
And finally about the Christmas visit....the kids only wanted to be with us one or two days during your possible nine day visit. One day when the baby is born and one when it comes home, so you are going to pout and throw a temper tantrum and give up a whole week with them? You could have been here Thursday night and Friday right after school, you didn't show until after 7pm. And you could have been here Tuesday (yes, 10 weeks ago we did say Wednesday, and it never crossed our minds again...and so we did make a mistake) and had them until Sunday. You could have been here Monday and Tuesday to go to lunch with them. You seem to always be pointing the finger at us and blaming us for not seeing the kids, but when you do fly here to see them, you give up time with them.
We are not perfect, we know that, but you think there is so much hate and some sort of agenda against you in this house, well as I said before....to Lori and Sean you are not that important, we don't waste our time trying to be vindictive towards you, we are far too busy with all of the things going on in our lives to sit and think up some evil plans. So we honestly we do hope you and your parents enjoy your time with the boys this weekend (which it sounded like Max did yesterday and for that we are thankful),but please...as Lindsey has asked, do not go by her work, she is there to work and not to be distracted by someone she doesn't want to see.
Also, we know that this will end up on the blog, but please see that again we are trying to communicate with you directly, not over the blog or through the kids (having the kids ask us something, or the boys trying to convince Lindsey to do something).
Thursday, November 26, 2009
something rotten in the state of denmark
Its an interesting quandary Im in. To blog or not to blog. Im sure this will create quite a firestorm. We did have a very nice Thanksgiving. My middle son, and my parents and I all went out to a fabulous and trendy restaurant in downtown Houston. The food was absolutely fabulous. But there was a heaviness at the meal. My youngest and oldest both decided to skip Thanksgiving meal and have it with X and new hubby’s family. Everyone is adamant on that side that it was the children’s choice. I think what we have here is yet another example of parental alienation. I have a feeling im being vilified in that house in a very subtle manner. The subtly is one of the main factors in Parental Alienation. I don’t think the children should have a choice in where they spend the holidays especially since X is so adamant about going by the decree. According to the decree its my year. Its peculiar, when the kids were younger, I would often ask them where they wanted to go eat, Burger King or McDonalds? for instance. X would often berate me telling me I was giving the children too many options/choices, they are children and adults should make the decision for the children. Yet here we are a few years later and X is allowing the children to make this big important decision of how they should spend the holidays and if they should see their father. Keep in mind, I specifically flew half way across the world just to be with my kids during this holiday. What makes the children’s choices even more curious are the facts. They have known my parents (who also flew in specifically for them) their entire lives and they have known new hubby’s family less than two years. Since the “new” family also lives in Texas they also see them much more frequently as compared to how often they see me or my parents. Yet they still chose to spend Thanksgiving with the “new” family. I think there is a lot of manipulation going on here, especially with my youngest son. I know I chose to live halfway across the world but when I try to make the best of the situation Im squandered at nearly every turn by the “new” family. I only have 7 days total (X refused me access Mon-Tue of this week according to the decree-her new Bible) and Im loosing three of those days because they chose to have Thanksgiving with the “new” family. Well…it pisses me off. If that was the goal of X…which Im sure it was, well it worked. Not necessarily because it hurt my feelings, but I think the long term damage that she is inflicting on the children is very damaging. That’s where I really get angry. Im sure somehow X will twist this back on my like its my fault. She always has a tendency to blame everyone else for her problems other than herself. Im the target of most of the hatred at the moment. When we were married…it was someone else that was always the target of hate.
I did talk to my daughter twice today which was half-fabulous. The first time I just grabbed the phone from my mother, so she wasn’t expecting it. We still had a pleasant conversation until the call dropped. The second time was later in the day. It was a tough phone call where she told me she didn’t want to see me. I haven’t seen my daughter in nearly two years. She then went on to all the complaints she had against me. But on more than half of the complaints, I answered her in emails which should have fixed the problem. I can’t speak to my daughter on the phone directly (or she chooses not to speak) so instead I’ve been sending her emails for the past 9 months since I learned her email address. But my daughter told me she hasn’t gotten any of the email that I sent her. This confirmed my suspicions. I saved and printed all the emails that I sent to her. I have a feeling that someone (most likely either X or new hubby) is accessing her account and deleting them. I know that accusation is quite heinous but some of the other things they have done have been equally if not moreso worse. I have proof that the emails were sent. In fact I went through the emails that I sent my middle son, and he claimed that he only received half of the emails. Now I can see 1 or 2 maybe not getting through..but all of them to my daughter not getting through and ½ to my son makes me very suspicious…I think there are some more overt manipulations going on. It’s a horrible horrible situation and I really don’t see the benefit in any of this. Im ready to move on to peace and harmony for the kids. Im sure X will throw this all back on me like its my fault, but just look at the actions and evidence. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. I hope I am judged by the fruits that Im producing. Please continue to pray for the relationship with my children. It just seems to be getting worse rather than better.
I did talk to my daughter twice today which was half-fabulous. The first time I just grabbed the phone from my mother, so she wasn’t expecting it. We still had a pleasant conversation until the call dropped. The second time was later in the day. It was a tough phone call where she told me she didn’t want to see me. I haven’t seen my daughter in nearly two years. She then went on to all the complaints she had against me. But on more than half of the complaints, I answered her in emails which should have fixed the problem. I can’t speak to my daughter on the phone directly (or she chooses not to speak) so instead I’ve been sending her emails for the past 9 months since I learned her email address. But my daughter told me she hasn’t gotten any of the email that I sent her. This confirmed my suspicions. I saved and printed all the emails that I sent to her. I have a feeling that someone (most likely either X or new hubby) is accessing her account and deleting them. I know that accusation is quite heinous but some of the other things they have done have been equally if not moreso worse. I have proof that the emails were sent. In fact I went through the emails that I sent my middle son, and he claimed that he only received half of the emails. Now I can see 1 or 2 maybe not getting through..but all of them to my daughter not getting through and ½ to my son makes me very suspicious…I think there are some more overt manipulations going on. It’s a horrible horrible situation and I really don’t see the benefit in any of this. Im ready to move on to peace and harmony for the kids. Im sure X will throw this all back on me like its my fault, but just look at the actions and evidence. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. I hope I am judged by the fruits that Im producing. Please continue to pray for the relationship with my children. It just seems to be getting worse rather than better.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Three days in Florida
I’m going through a lot of strange emotions right now. I haven’t posted in the blog in a couple of days, because I’ve been on vacation, its nice to take a break. But if you read between the lines the blog still has been generating a lot of activity via all the comments. I think it would be a lot easier if X and new hubby just stopped reading the blog. I just don’t see why they do write this. Its not as if any of their new friends read this. And for the most part very few people know who they actually are. Its seems like they would have more important things to do with their time rather than seek outlets to express bitterness, rage, sarcasm and hate. Life is too short for that. Im not writing this for them or any specific person in particular (although it does save me several phone calls and guilt trips from my mother as she keeps tabs on me this way.) This an introspective look at one man as he traverses the emotional pitfalls of divorce, recovery and rebirth. There aren’t a lot of books or literature written about divorce as opposed to weight loss or celebrities. So I feel compelled to to share one side of the story. Its just interesting, that I didn’t seek out my divorce nor give my spouse a biblical reason (debatable of course) to divorce me, instead I tried to do everything within me to save it. Yet I don’t consider myself to be that bitter. Im saddened by the loss of the relationship that I with my children, that continuously hurts. The loss of my family as I had known it is certainly the hardest thing I’ve had to endure. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Perhaps that is why I fee compelled to write to share my own pain so others might learn and hopefully avoid it. As I travel through this recovery process I think its important to note that Im not happy about my situation. But what is happiness really? Its an emotion that is fleeting like a smile or a water vapor. That’s why Dr. Laura never really concerns herself with feelings because they are so temporal depending on set of circumstances that rapidly change and then fade away. I think Americans have it a little wrong as they have an inherent right to be happy. The founding fathers, set up life, liberty, and the right to pursue happiness, not to be happy but to pursue it. Americans have a tendency that if they aren’t happy, they take a quick fix and try to find shortcuts to happiness. I think what I’ve learned that there are more important things in life than being happy, righteousness for example. Given the choice of happiness and righteousness I would choose righteousness. This isn’t to imply that Im not happy at certain times in my life. In fact, Im happy most of the time, but that is not what defines my goals in life. Instead by striving for righteousness a byproduct that is created is peace. And even though I’ve had a lifetime of turmoil concentrated into a space of three years I’ve maintained that quest for righteousness and thus had my peace for the most part through that time. I think that example is what God is using me for through my life and through this blog. Its important to have inner peace in life and not merely happiness. Now happiness and joy are often a byproduct of peace. I’ve learned firsthand that its possible to be joyful and not happy. As my world was falling apart according to the natural I still maintained my peace. That is a weird weird feeling. Its like having an emotional forcefield around you. I remember that during the worst times, people would ask me how I’d be doing. I would respond, it doesn’t make any sense, but Im having a really good day. I should be having a horrible day, but for some reason, Im having a great day. That is God’s protection in action. That no matter what your circumstances, you can still maintain your joy. Having joy is not dependent on outside circumstance but being happy is. In a sense if you are living your life with God’s guidance, you can absolutely control your peace and joy, whereas you can’t control your happiness. A lot of people strive to control their own lives and destiny, but very few choose to do it the way God had intended.
The reason why I haven’t written because I was spending a very nice couple of days with Ms. Florida. I decided not to bemoan the fact that X was making it difficult to see the kids. Rather than mope for three days I decided to be proactive and meet a new friend face to face. It was a very nice trip. Its strange as Im dating now. The emotional element plays a part but not as much as it played when I first got married. Maybe that was because I was too young. When I first got married…Love could conquer all…it didn’t matter about anything else. Now that Im older and wiser, I realize that love plays a factor but spiritual compatibility, demographics, baggage, kids, history, personality etc… all play an increasingly bigger role. So in a sense its more of an interview than dating. Man does that sound unromantic, because it absolutely is. But Im a very romantic guy, that’s why its weird to put it out there. I think most divorced people would agree with me on this. Im also in a different situation right now personally by choice. Im not really interested in dating to find a potential girlfriend. Ive had several opportunities to have girlfriends. Instead Im dating to find a potential wife. If that potential isn’t there from the outset, its really difficult for me to continue to see that person on a romantic basis. It just seems insincere. That said…I really had a nice time with Ms. Florida and it will be interesting to see how/if this develops. I understand that being with me has its own set of challenges (as Im sure a few would attest to…lol). I have baggage and I have drama. It would take someone pretty resilient to not only enter the emotional situation but my present living situation as well. My present location of the Middle East has to be daunting. Im called to be there and because of that, Im having a great time and a wonderful adventure. To someone not called to that lifestyle Im sure it would be incredibly intimidating. God has spoken to me again and again and again. That he has my emotional life and my potential future spouse already in the works for me. He has come through with everything that He told me thus far, Im sure he’ll follow through with that as well. There’s a lot of peace generated with that knowledge knowing I don’t have to worry about it. The happiness is out there…whether or not I get doesn’t really matter to me right now. I choose peace and joy.
The reason why I haven’t written because I was spending a very nice couple of days with Ms. Florida. I decided not to bemoan the fact that X was making it difficult to see the kids. Rather than mope for three days I decided to be proactive and meet a new friend face to face. It was a very nice trip. Its strange as Im dating now. The emotional element plays a part but not as much as it played when I first got married. Maybe that was because I was too young. When I first got married…Love could conquer all…it didn’t matter about anything else. Now that Im older and wiser, I realize that love plays a factor but spiritual compatibility, demographics, baggage, kids, history, personality etc… all play an increasingly bigger role. So in a sense its more of an interview than dating. Man does that sound unromantic, because it absolutely is. But Im a very romantic guy, that’s why its weird to put it out there. I think most divorced people would agree with me on this. Im also in a different situation right now personally by choice. Im not really interested in dating to find a potential girlfriend. Ive had several opportunities to have girlfriends. Instead Im dating to find a potential wife. If that potential isn’t there from the outset, its really difficult for me to continue to see that person on a romantic basis. It just seems insincere. That said…I really had a nice time with Ms. Florida and it will be interesting to see how/if this develops. I understand that being with me has its own set of challenges (as Im sure a few would attest to…lol). I have baggage and I have drama. It would take someone pretty resilient to not only enter the emotional situation but my present living situation as well. My present location of the Middle East has to be daunting. Im called to be there and because of that, Im having a great time and a wonderful adventure. To someone not called to that lifestyle Im sure it would be incredibly intimidating. God has spoken to me again and again and again. That he has my emotional life and my potential future spouse already in the works for me. He has come through with everything that He told me thus far, Im sure he’ll follow through with that as well. There’s a lot of peace generated with that knowledge knowing I don’t have to worry about it. The happiness is out there…whether or not I get doesn’t really matter to me right now. I choose peace and joy.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Weekend with the boys
I had such a great weekend with my boys. Its just strange though. Everytime I visit with them there is a re-acclimation period that takes place. Usually its about 24 hours sometimes it’s a little longer. Im not sure if I should consider it a de-programming and re-programming situation or not. I know from the hints that I hear there is a lot propaganda thrown against me in that house. If there is something wrong its usually daddy’s fault because he moved to Bahrain. I pick this up in both words and actions. But I don’t want to defend myself as that would be putting them in the middle. I do find myself having to bite my tongue more than a few times as I don’t want to say anything bad about X in front of them.
What is also an adjustment period for me is their age. They are getting older and they want to be treated like adults. Now the boys are still 14 and 11, and I understand part of that. It’s a maturation process that Im not privy to for an extended period because of the geographic distance. At first my oldest son wanted a webcam to maintain that intimacy but for her own reasons, X refuses to allow one in their house. So its down to phone calls.
I picked the boys up and we went out to Dinner on Friday night. The plane was a little delayed and there was loads of traffic, so I didn’t get to them until very late. The anticipation was really tough to take. My car hadn’t been driven for five months so it needed a jump start. I thought it would charge itself, but the battery kept dying. So I felt a little stranded after dinner at Steak n Shake. I went to Target to buy some jumper cables. By the end of the night I was absolutely zonked. I had about 4 hours sleep in 72 hours and didn’t know which end was up. But thankfully I slept through the night and was over my jetlag within about 12 hours. I remarked to the boys how cool it was that in the morning I was halfway around the world and a day later Im having dinner with them. My system seems to be working. Im getting used to the global travel. The next morning we needed a jump again to get started and we headed to Jack in the Box…I crave Jack in the Box breakfast as it used to be a daily ritual with me. I left the car running this time while we ate, then Max wanted to head off to a Magic class. He’s really into being a magician right now, He’s quite passionate about it. When he was young, he developed quite an admiration for a magician named Johnny Ace Palmer who was an award winning magician that lived in Los Angeles. Max had arguably the best birthday party ever with him. (Don’t you think?) It left an impression that is taking its roots today. So Im all for encouraging whatever he wants to be passionate about, which X does as well. Even though she has her disagreements with me, we both want what is best for the children. She is a good mother. Im thankful for that. Hopefully someday we’ll be able to be civil enough to have a conversation again that revolves around the kids. Ive reached out several times to spurned. There are still very negative feelings on that side. Spencer and I spent some great time together wile Max was in his Seminar. I do love that kid. Im pretty happy in Bahrain…but I’d be deliriously happy if they could somehow either lived with or visited me. But X is steadfastly against that, so I would need some sort of miracle, but my God is in the miracle business. So maybe I should commit that more to prayer. I think living abroad for a season and getting to know friends from vastly different heritages would be an incredibly learning experience for them.
Today, Sunday we were able to go to Lakewood Church. I do miss going their every week. Its like filling up my emotional spiritual tank. There is so much energy at that church. The worship is simply amazing. That’s really the main message behind Lakewood…the power of praise. The main part of the service is the worship as Joel often says, with the message being secondary. They don’t play the worship aspect on TV so the critics only go after half of Joel’s message. We went to lunch together while I changed the battery in my car finally. I had kept the car running all Saturday after I couldn’t find the right battery at Wal-Mart. Then we came back to watch 30 Rock and play games. By then it was time for them to go back home. I hadn’t seen them since July. I asked X to have extended time, but she refused. Going by the decree which has become her bible. So I have to return the kids Sun. night and get them back Wed. night. I think she get some sort of satisfaction by being vindictive like that, but really it’s the kids that lose out. So Im making the best of a negative situation. The surprise which I alluded to a few weeks ago in the blog is now happening. Im flying to florida for a quick face to face introduction to Ms. Florida. So Im maximizing my time in the U.S. Im actually writing to you from somewhere above Louisiana at the moment. It will be interesting to see how this one clicks. This is my third trip back to the U.S. thus far, and on each trip I’ve met a different girl, but so far, no love connection. One of these days though…there are going to be sparks. Im not discouraged though as each one…well maybe not the LA one, has become a dear friend. Im only in Florida for three days so Im not missing anytime with my kids. I fly back on Wed. for Thanksgiving. My parents are flying in for Thanksgiving with me, at this point only Max has decided to spend it with me…even though its my year. X is having a competing Thanksgiving meal and has convinced Spencer and Lindsey to spend it with their family instead of my parents and I. Oh, Im sure she’ll be upset when she reads this and declare that it was entirely the children’s choice, but if you believe she had nothing to do influence that decision, I have some patches of desert to sell you in Bahrain. This is what Parental Alienation is all about. But Im more confident than ever that the children will see through the actions and recognize truth sooner rather than later. Wow…that came across very negative. I need an attitude adjustment. But anytime Im with the kids and then have to leave them, it reminds me that Im divorced. So sometimes the bitterness creeps in just a bit…I have to fight against that. I don’t want to be defined by being a bitter person. I’ll work on it. Please pray for my children to change their mind so they will spend Thanksgiving with me during my year (according to the decree). I don’t think I’ll be able to come back and see them for another six months, so every 24 hour period is precious to me. They get their mom and her new in-laws (whom they’ve only knows two years) all the time. It’s not exactly fair…but when has Divorce ever been fair. God and I still hate it.
What is also an adjustment period for me is their age. They are getting older and they want to be treated like adults. Now the boys are still 14 and 11, and I understand part of that. It’s a maturation process that Im not privy to for an extended period because of the geographic distance. At first my oldest son wanted a webcam to maintain that intimacy but for her own reasons, X refuses to allow one in their house. So its down to phone calls.
I picked the boys up and we went out to Dinner on Friday night. The plane was a little delayed and there was loads of traffic, so I didn’t get to them until very late. The anticipation was really tough to take. My car hadn’t been driven for five months so it needed a jump start. I thought it would charge itself, but the battery kept dying. So I felt a little stranded after dinner at Steak n Shake. I went to Target to buy some jumper cables. By the end of the night I was absolutely zonked. I had about 4 hours sleep in 72 hours and didn’t know which end was up. But thankfully I slept through the night and was over my jetlag within about 12 hours. I remarked to the boys how cool it was that in the morning I was halfway around the world and a day later Im having dinner with them. My system seems to be working. Im getting used to the global travel. The next morning we needed a jump again to get started and we headed to Jack in the Box…I crave Jack in the Box breakfast as it used to be a daily ritual with me. I left the car running this time while we ate, then Max wanted to head off to a Magic class. He’s really into being a magician right now, He’s quite passionate about it. When he was young, he developed quite an admiration for a magician named Johnny Ace Palmer who was an award winning magician that lived in Los Angeles. Max had arguably the best birthday party ever with him. (Don’t you think?) It left an impression that is taking its roots today. So Im all for encouraging whatever he wants to be passionate about, which X does as well. Even though she has her disagreements with me, we both want what is best for the children. She is a good mother. Im thankful for that. Hopefully someday we’ll be able to be civil enough to have a conversation again that revolves around the kids. Ive reached out several times to spurned. There are still very negative feelings on that side. Spencer and I spent some great time together wile Max was in his Seminar. I do love that kid. Im pretty happy in Bahrain…but I’d be deliriously happy if they could somehow either lived with or visited me. But X is steadfastly against that, so I would need some sort of miracle, but my God is in the miracle business. So maybe I should commit that more to prayer. I think living abroad for a season and getting to know friends from vastly different heritages would be an incredibly learning experience for them.
Today, Sunday we were able to go to Lakewood Church. I do miss going their every week. Its like filling up my emotional spiritual tank. There is so much energy at that church. The worship is simply amazing. That’s really the main message behind Lakewood…the power of praise. The main part of the service is the worship as Joel often says, with the message being secondary. They don’t play the worship aspect on TV so the critics only go after half of Joel’s message. We went to lunch together while I changed the battery in my car finally. I had kept the car running all Saturday after I couldn’t find the right battery at Wal-Mart. Then we came back to watch 30 Rock and play games. By then it was time for them to go back home. I hadn’t seen them since July. I asked X to have extended time, but she refused. Going by the decree which has become her bible. So I have to return the kids Sun. night and get them back Wed. night. I think she get some sort of satisfaction by being vindictive like that, but really it’s the kids that lose out. So Im making the best of a negative situation. The surprise which I alluded to a few weeks ago in the blog is now happening. Im flying to florida for a quick face to face introduction to Ms. Florida. So Im maximizing my time in the U.S. Im actually writing to you from somewhere above Louisiana at the moment. It will be interesting to see how this one clicks. This is my third trip back to the U.S. thus far, and on each trip I’ve met a different girl, but so far, no love connection. One of these days though…there are going to be sparks. Im not discouraged though as each one…well maybe not the LA one, has become a dear friend. Im only in Florida for three days so Im not missing anytime with my kids. I fly back on Wed. for Thanksgiving. My parents are flying in for Thanksgiving with me, at this point only Max has decided to spend it with me…even though its my year. X is having a competing Thanksgiving meal and has convinced Spencer and Lindsey to spend it with their family instead of my parents and I. Oh, Im sure she’ll be upset when she reads this and declare that it was entirely the children’s choice, but if you believe she had nothing to do influence that decision, I have some patches of desert to sell you in Bahrain. This is what Parental Alienation is all about. But Im more confident than ever that the children will see through the actions and recognize truth sooner rather than later. Wow…that came across very negative. I need an attitude adjustment. But anytime Im with the kids and then have to leave them, it reminds me that Im divorced. So sometimes the bitterness creeps in just a bit…I have to fight against that. I don’t want to be defined by being a bitter person. I’ll work on it. Please pray for my children to change their mind so they will spend Thanksgiving with me during my year (according to the decree). I don’t think I’ll be able to come back and see them for another six months, so every 24 hour period is precious to me. They get their mom and her new in-laws (whom they’ve only knows two years) all the time. It’s not exactly fair…but when has Divorce ever been fair. God and I still hate it.
Weekend with the boys
I had such a great weekend with my boys. Its just strange though. Everytime I visit with them there is a re-acclimation period that takes place. Usually its about 24 hours sometimes it’s a little longer. Im not sure if I should consider it a de-programming and re-programming situation or not. I know from the hints that I hear there is a lot propaganda thrown against me in that house. If there is something wrong its usually daddy’s fault because he moved to Bahrain. I pick this up in both words and actions. But I don’t want to defend myself as that would be putting them in the middle. I do find myself having to bite my tongue more than a few times as I don’t want to say anything bad about X in front of them.
What is also an adjustment period for me is their age. They are getting older and they want to be treated like adults. Now the boys are still 14 and 11, and I understand part of that. It’s a maturation process that Im not privy to for an extended period because of the geographic distance. At first my oldest son wanted a webcam to maintain that intimacy but for her own reasons, X refuses to allow one in their house. So its down to phone calls.
I picked the boys up and we went out to Dinner on Friday night. The plane was a little delayed and there was loads of traffic, so I didn’t get to them until very late. The anticipation was really tough to take. My car hadn’t been driven for five months so it needed a jump start. I thought it would charge itself, but the battery kept dying. So I felt a little stranded after dinner at Steak n Shake. I went to Target to buy some jumper cables. By the end of the night I was absolutely zonked. I had about 4 hours sleep in 72 hours and didn’t know which end was up. But thankfully I slept through the night and was over my jetlag within about 12 hours. I remarked to the boys how cool it was that in the morning I was halfway around the world and a day later Im having dinner with them. My system seems to be working. Im getting used to the global travel. The next morning we needed a jump again to get started and we headed to Jack in the Box…I crave Jack in the Box breakfast as it used to be a daily ritual with me. I left the car running this time while we ate, then Max wanted to head off to a Magic class. He’s really into being a magician right now, He’s quite passionate about it. When he was young, he developed quite an admiration for a magician named Johnny Ace Palmer who was an award winning magician that lived in Los Angeles. Max had arguably the best birthday party ever with him. (Don’t you think?) It left an impression that is taking its roots today. So Im all for encouraging whatever he wants to be passionate about, which X does as well. Even though she has her disagreements with me, we both want what is best for the children. She is a good mother. Im thankful for that. Hopefully someday we’ll be able to be civil enough to have a conversation again that revolves around the kids. Ive reached out several times to spurned. There are still very negative feelings on that side. Spencer and I spent some great time together wile Max was in his Seminar. I do love that kid. Im pretty happy in Bahrain…but I’d be deliriously happy if they could somehow either lived with or visited me. But X is steadfastly against that, so I would need some sort of miracle, but my God is in the miracle business. So maybe I should commit that more to prayer. I think living abroad for a season and getting to know friends from vastly different heritages would be an incredibly learning experience for them.
Today, Sunday we were able to go to Lakewood Church. I do miss going their every week. Its like filling up my emotional spiritual tank. There is so much energy at that church. The worship is simply amazing. That’s really the main message behind Lakewood…the power of praise. The main part of the service is the worship as Joel often says, with the message being secondary. They don’t play the worship aspect on TV so the critics only go after half of Joel’s message. We went to lunch together while I changed the battery in my car finally. I had kept the car running all Saturday after I couldn’t find the right battery at Wal-Mart. Then we came back to watch 30 Rock and play games. By then it was time for them to go back home. I hadn’t seen them since July. I asked X to have extended time, but she refused. Going by the decree which has become her bible. So I have to return the kids Sun. night and get them back Wed. night. I think she get some sort of satisfaction by being vindictive like that, but really it’s the kids that lose out. So Im making the best of a negative situation. The surprise which I alluded to a few weeks ago in the blog is now happening. Im flying to florida for a quick face to face introduction to Ms. Florida. So Im maximizing my time in the U.S. Im actually writing to you from somewhere above Louisiana at the moment. It will be interesting to see how this one clicks. This is my third trip back to the U.S. thus far, and on each trip I’ve met a different girl, but so far, no love connection. One of these days though…there are going to be sparks. Im not discouraged though as each one…well maybe not the LA one, has become a dear friend. Im only in Florida for three days so Im not missing anytime with my kids. I fly back on Wed. for Thanksgiving. My parents are flying in for Thanksgiving with me, at this point only Max has decided to spend it with me…even though its my year. X is having a competing Thanksgiving meal and has convinced Spencer and Lindsey to spend it with their family instead of my parents and I. Oh, Im sure she’ll be upset when she reads this and declare that it was entirely the children’s choice, but if you believe she had nothing to do influence that decision, I have some patches of desert to sell you in Bahrain. This is what Parental Alienation is all about. But Im more confident than ever that the children will see through the actions and recognize truth sooner rather than later. Wow…that came across very negative. I need an attitude adjustment. But anytime Im with the kids and then have to leave them, it reminds me that Im divorced. So sometimes the bitterness creeps in just a bit…I have to fight against that. I don’t want to be defined by being a bitter person. I’ll work on it. Please pray for my children to change their mind so they will spend Thanksgiving with me during my year (according to the decree). I don’t think I’ll be able to come back and see them for another six months, so every 24 hour period is precious to me. They get their mom and her new in-laws (whom they’ve only knows two years) all the time. It’s not exactly fair…but when has Divorce ever been fair. God and I still hate it.
What is also an adjustment period for me is their age. They are getting older and they want to be treated like adults. Now the boys are still 14 and 11, and I understand part of that. It’s a maturation process that Im not privy to for an extended period because of the geographic distance. At first my oldest son wanted a webcam to maintain that intimacy but for her own reasons, X refuses to allow one in their house. So its down to phone calls.
I picked the boys up and we went out to Dinner on Friday night. The plane was a little delayed and there was loads of traffic, so I didn’t get to them until very late. The anticipation was really tough to take. My car hadn’t been driven for five months so it needed a jump start. I thought it would charge itself, but the battery kept dying. So I felt a little stranded after dinner at Steak n Shake. I went to Target to buy some jumper cables. By the end of the night I was absolutely zonked. I had about 4 hours sleep in 72 hours and didn’t know which end was up. But thankfully I slept through the night and was over my jetlag within about 12 hours. I remarked to the boys how cool it was that in the morning I was halfway around the world and a day later Im having dinner with them. My system seems to be working. Im getting used to the global travel. The next morning we needed a jump again to get started and we headed to Jack in the Box…I crave Jack in the Box breakfast as it used to be a daily ritual with me. I left the car running this time while we ate, then Max wanted to head off to a Magic class. He’s really into being a magician right now, He’s quite passionate about it. When he was young, he developed quite an admiration for a magician named Johnny Ace Palmer who was an award winning magician that lived in Los Angeles. Max had arguably the best birthday party ever with him. (Don’t you think?) It left an impression that is taking its roots today. So Im all for encouraging whatever he wants to be passionate about, which X does as well. Even though she has her disagreements with me, we both want what is best for the children. She is a good mother. Im thankful for that. Hopefully someday we’ll be able to be civil enough to have a conversation again that revolves around the kids. Ive reached out several times to spurned. There are still very negative feelings on that side. Spencer and I spent some great time together wile Max was in his Seminar. I do love that kid. Im pretty happy in Bahrain…but I’d be deliriously happy if they could somehow either lived with or visited me. But X is steadfastly against that, so I would need some sort of miracle, but my God is in the miracle business. So maybe I should commit that more to prayer. I think living abroad for a season and getting to know friends from vastly different heritages would be an incredibly learning experience for them.
Today, Sunday we were able to go to Lakewood Church. I do miss going their every week. Its like filling up my emotional spiritual tank. There is so much energy at that church. The worship is simply amazing. That’s really the main message behind Lakewood…the power of praise. The main part of the service is the worship as Joel often says, with the message being secondary. They don’t play the worship aspect on TV so the critics only go after half of Joel’s message. We went to lunch together while I changed the battery in my car finally. I had kept the car running all Saturday after I couldn’t find the right battery at Wal-Mart. Then we came back to watch 30 Rock and play games. By then it was time for them to go back home. I hadn’t seen them since July. I asked X to have extended time, but she refused. Going by the decree which has become her bible. So I have to return the kids Sun. night and get them back Wed. night. I think she get some sort of satisfaction by being vindictive like that, but really it’s the kids that lose out. So Im making the best of a negative situation. The surprise which I alluded to a few weeks ago in the blog is now happening. Im flying to florida for a quick face to face introduction to Ms. Florida. So Im maximizing my time in the U.S. Im actually writing to you from somewhere above Louisiana at the moment. It will be interesting to see how this one clicks. This is my third trip back to the U.S. thus far, and on each trip I’ve met a different girl, but so far, no love connection. One of these days though…there are going to be sparks. Im not discouraged though as each one…well maybe not the LA one, has become a dear friend. Im only in Florida for three days so Im not missing anytime with my kids. I fly back on Wed. for Thanksgiving. My parents are flying in for Thanksgiving with me, at this point only Max has decided to spend it with me…even though its my year. X is having a competing Thanksgiving meal and has convinced Spencer and Lindsey to spend it with their family instead of my parents and I. Oh, Im sure she’ll be upset when she reads this and declare that it was entirely the children’s choice, but if you believe she had nothing to do influence that decision, I have some patches of desert to sell you in Bahrain. This is what Parental Alienation is all about. But Im more confident than ever that the children will see through the actions and recognize truth sooner rather than later. Wow…that came across very negative. I need an attitude adjustment. But anytime Im with the kids and then have to leave them, it reminds me that Im divorced. So sometimes the bitterness creeps in just a bit…I have to fight against that. I don’t want to be defined by being a bitter person. I’ll work on it. Please pray for my children to change their mind so they will spend Thanksgiving with me during my year (according to the decree). I don’t think I’ll be able to come back and see them for another six months, so every 24 hour period is precious to me. They get their mom and her new in-laws (whom they’ve only knows two years) all the time. It’s not exactly fair…but when has Divorce ever been fair. God and I still hate it.
Weekend with the boys
I had such a great weekend with my boys. Its just strange though. Everytime I visit with them there is a re-acclimation period that takes place. Usually its about 24 hours sometimes it’s a little longer. Im not sure if I should consider it a de-programming and re-programming situation or not. I know from the hints that I hear there is a lot propaganda thrown against me in that house. If there is something wrong its usually daddy’s fault because he moved to Bahrain. I pick this up in both words and actions. But I don’t want to defend myself as that would be putting them in the middle. I do find myself having to bite my tongue more than a few times as I don’t want to say anything bad about X in front of them.
What is also an adjustment period for me is their age. They are getting older and they want to be treated like adults. Now the boys are still 14 and 11, and I understand part of that. It’s a maturation process that Im not privy to for an extended period because of the geographic distance. At first my oldest son wanted a webcam to maintain that intimacy but for her own reasons, X refuses to allow one in their house. So its down to phone calls.
I picked the boys up and we went out to Dinner on Friday night. The plane was a little delayed and there was loads of traffic, so I didn’t get to them until very late. The anticipation was really tough to take. My car hadn’t been driven for five months so it needed a jump start. I thought it would charge itself, but the battery kept dying. So I felt a little stranded after dinner at Steak n Shake. I went to Target to buy some jumper cables. By the end of the night I was absolutely zonked. I had about 4 hours sleep in 72 hours and didn’t know which end was up. But thankfully I slept through the night and was over my jetlag within about 12 hours. I remarked to the boys how cool it was that in the morning I was halfway around the world and a day later Im having dinner with them. My system seems to be working. Im getting used to the global travel. The next morning we needed a jump again to get started and we headed to Jack in the Box…I crave Jack in the Box breakfast as it used to be a daily ritual with me. I left the car running this time while we ate, then Max wanted to head off to a Magic class. He’s really into being a magician right now, He’s quite passionate about it. When he was young, he developed quite an admiration for a magician named Johnny Ace Palmer who was an award winning magician that lived in Los Angeles. Max had arguably the best birthday party ever with him. (Don’t you think?) It left an impression that is taking its roots today. So Im all for encouraging whatever he wants to be passionate about, which X does as well. Even though she has her disagreements with me, we both want what is best for the children. She is a good mother. Im thankful for that. Hopefully someday we’ll be able to be civil enough to have a conversation again that revolves around the kids. Ive reached out several times to spurned. There are still very negative feelings on that side. Spencer and I spent some great time together wile Max was in his Seminar. I do love that kid. Im pretty happy in Bahrain…but I’d be deliriously happy if they could somehow either lived with or visited me. But X is steadfastly against that, so I would need some sort of miracle, but my God is in the miracle business. So maybe I should commit that more to prayer. I think living abroad for a season and getting to know friends from vastly different heritages would be an incredibly learning experience for them.
Today, Sunday we were able to go to Lakewood Church. I do miss going their every week. Its like filling up my emotional spiritual tank. There is so much energy at that church. The worship is simply amazing. That’s really the main message behind Lakewood…the power of praise. The main part of the service is the worship as Joel often says, with the message being secondary. They don’t play the worship aspect on TV so the critics only go after half of Joel’s message. We went to lunch together while I changed the battery in my car finally. I had kept the car running all Saturday after I couldn’t find the right battery at Wal-Mart. Then we came back to watch 30 Rock and play games. By then it was time for them to go back home. I hadn’t seen them since July. I asked X to have extended time, but she refused. Going by the decree which has become her bible. So I have to return the kids Sun. night and get them back Wed. night. I think she get some sort of satisfaction by being vindictive like that, but really it’s the kids that lose out. So Im making the best of a negative situation. The surprise which I alluded to a few weeks ago in the blog is now happening. Im flying to florida for a quick face to face introduction to Ms. Florida. So Im maximizing my time in the U.S. Im actually writing to you from somewhere above Louisiana at the moment. It will be interesting to see how this one clicks. This is my third trip back to the U.S. thus far, and on each trip I’ve met a different girl, but so far, no love connection. One of these days though…there are going to be sparks. Im not discouraged though as each one…well maybe not the LA one, has become a dear friend. Im only in Florida for three days so Im not missing anytime with my kids. I fly back on Wed. for Thanksgiving. My parents are flying in for Thanksgiving with me, at this point only Max has decided to spend it with me…even though its my year. X is having a competing Thanksgiving meal and has convinced Spencer and Lindsey to spend it with their family instead of my parents and I. Oh, Im sure she’ll be upset when she reads this and declare that it was entirely the children’s choice, but if you believe she had nothing to do influence that decision, I have some patches of desert to sell you in Bahrain. This is what Parental Alienation is all about. But Im more confident than ever that the children will see through the actions and recognize truth sooner rather than later. Wow…that came across very negative. I need an attitude adjustment. But anytime Im with the kids and then have to leave them, it reminds me that Im divorced. So sometimes the bitterness creeps in just a bit…I have to fight against that. I don’t want to be defined by being a bitter person. I’ll work on it. Please pray for my children to change their mind so they will spend Thanksgiving with me during my year (according to the decree). I don’t think I’ll be able to come back and see them for another six months, so every 24 hour period is precious to me. They get their mom and her new in-laws (whom they’ve only knows two years) all the time. It’s not exactly fair…but when has Divorce ever been fair. God and I still hate it.
What is also an adjustment period for me is their age. They are getting older and they want to be treated like adults. Now the boys are still 14 and 11, and I understand part of that. It’s a maturation process that Im not privy to for an extended period because of the geographic distance. At first my oldest son wanted a webcam to maintain that intimacy but for her own reasons, X refuses to allow one in their house. So its down to phone calls.
I picked the boys up and we went out to Dinner on Friday night. The plane was a little delayed and there was loads of traffic, so I didn’t get to them until very late. The anticipation was really tough to take. My car hadn’t been driven for five months so it needed a jump start. I thought it would charge itself, but the battery kept dying. So I felt a little stranded after dinner at Steak n Shake. I went to Target to buy some jumper cables. By the end of the night I was absolutely zonked. I had about 4 hours sleep in 72 hours and didn’t know which end was up. But thankfully I slept through the night and was over my jetlag within about 12 hours. I remarked to the boys how cool it was that in the morning I was halfway around the world and a day later Im having dinner with them. My system seems to be working. Im getting used to the global travel. The next morning we needed a jump again to get started and we headed to Jack in the Box…I crave Jack in the Box breakfast as it used to be a daily ritual with me. I left the car running this time while we ate, then Max wanted to head off to a Magic class. He’s really into being a magician right now, He’s quite passionate about it. When he was young, he developed quite an admiration for a magician named Johnny Ace Palmer who was an award winning magician that lived in Los Angeles. Max had arguably the best birthday party ever with him. (Don’t you think?) It left an impression that is taking its roots today. So Im all for encouraging whatever he wants to be passionate about, which X does as well. Even though she has her disagreements with me, we both want what is best for the children. She is a good mother. Im thankful for that. Hopefully someday we’ll be able to be civil enough to have a conversation again that revolves around the kids. Ive reached out several times to spurned. There are still very negative feelings on that side. Spencer and I spent some great time together wile Max was in his Seminar. I do love that kid. Im pretty happy in Bahrain…but I’d be deliriously happy if they could somehow either lived with or visited me. But X is steadfastly against that, so I would need some sort of miracle, but my God is in the miracle business. So maybe I should commit that more to prayer. I think living abroad for a season and getting to know friends from vastly different heritages would be an incredibly learning experience for them.
Today, Sunday we were able to go to Lakewood Church. I do miss going their every week. Its like filling up my emotional spiritual tank. There is so much energy at that church. The worship is simply amazing. That’s really the main message behind Lakewood…the power of praise. The main part of the service is the worship as Joel often says, with the message being secondary. They don’t play the worship aspect on TV so the critics only go after half of Joel’s message. We went to lunch together while I changed the battery in my car finally. I had kept the car running all Saturday after I couldn’t find the right battery at Wal-Mart. Then we came back to watch 30 Rock and play games. By then it was time for them to go back home. I hadn’t seen them since July. I asked X to have extended time, but she refused. Going by the decree which has become her bible. So I have to return the kids Sun. night and get them back Wed. night. I think she get some sort of satisfaction by being vindictive like that, but really it’s the kids that lose out. So Im making the best of a negative situation. The surprise which I alluded to a few weeks ago in the blog is now happening. Im flying to florida for a quick face to face introduction to Ms. Florida. So Im maximizing my time in the U.S. Im actually writing to you from somewhere above Louisiana at the moment. It will be interesting to see how this one clicks. This is my third trip back to the U.S. thus far, and on each trip I’ve met a different girl, but so far, no love connection. One of these days though…there are going to be sparks. Im not discouraged though as each one…well maybe not the LA one, has become a dear friend. Im only in Florida for three days so Im not missing anytime with my kids. I fly back on Wed. for Thanksgiving. My parents are flying in for Thanksgiving with me, at this point only Max has decided to spend it with me…even though its my year. X is having a competing Thanksgiving meal and has convinced Spencer and Lindsey to spend it with their family instead of my parents and I. Oh, Im sure she’ll be upset when she reads this and declare that it was entirely the children’s choice, but if you believe she had nothing to do influence that decision, I have some patches of desert to sell you in Bahrain. This is what Parental Alienation is all about. But Im more confident than ever that the children will see through the actions and recognize truth sooner rather than later. Wow…that came across very negative. I need an attitude adjustment. But anytime Im with the kids and then have to leave them, it reminds me that Im divorced. So sometimes the bitterness creeps in just a bit…I have to fight against that. I don’t want to be defined by being a bitter person. I’ll work on it. Please pray for my children to change their mind so they will spend Thanksgiving with me during my year (according to the decree). I don’t think I’ll be able to come back and see them for another six months, so every 24 hour period is precious to me. They get their mom and her new in-laws (whom they’ve only knows two years) all the time. It’s not exactly fair…but when has Divorce ever been fair. God and I still hate it.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Great day
I had a wonderful day with my boys, but I don't want to write too much about it now. I'll have some more time to write tomorrow.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Halfway home
Im somewhere over Copenhagen now. The flight from Dubai to Houston kind of curves north, whereas the flight from Dubai to San Francisco goes directly over the North Pole. So no spotting Santa on this trip. What is strange that the flight from Dubai to either San Francisco or Houston is the same length at 17 hours. That is really weird for me to comprehend. Im so excited to get to see my boys. I was looking through some old pictures of when they were younger. I try not to do that too much as it just makes me melancholy, but seeing them tomorrow/today makes the anticipation build. I would have loved to have seen them a little longer, but X refused to grant me additional time. She really is locked into that decree. That is the only measure where she still can control me or try to control.
My flight left Bahrain at 3:50 AM, my friend Moody was kind of to drive me to the airport at 2:00 AM. Another nice thing about Bahrain, even on an international flight, it takes you all of 20 minutes (tops) to check in. Eid Al Adha is right around the corner so there are a lot of Muslim pilgrims headed to Mecca for the Haj. The Haj (Now muslim readers please correct me if Im wrong in the comment section) is a trip to Mecca where the pilgrims walk around the mosque seven times. I think its seven. I don’t have Internet access up here so I can’t double check my facts. The mosque in Mecca is absolutely massive. Its quite a sight to see all the millions of pilrims that descend upon it. So at the Bahrain airport there were hundreds of Pilgrims waiting for the flights to Mecca. Most we dressed in the national dress (thobe and gutra) and almost all the ladies were in their abayas with full veils. Since Haj is an extremely religious event, most of the women that wear Abayas do so for religious purposes. My co-worker Tanya really doesn’t like the Abayas with the full veil. She calls them ninjas…which is kind of funny.
I had a three hour layover in Dubai. Thankfully I’ve flown enough I could get access to the Business Class lounge. This is a gorgeous lounge. I was chatting with my friend Ms. Florida and I told her being in the lounge made me feel rich.
Im a little bit sad that I do only have nine days to spend with the boys. Well its not even nine. Ex (according to the decree) is making me give them back on Sunday night, then I can pick them up again on Wed. for Thanksgiving break. She requested some special time with the kids at Christmas during my visitation. Even though its not in the decree, I gladly obliged. So I wanted to trade my time at Christmas for extended time to visit at Thanksgiving, she predictably said No. So I’m going to allow her to keep the kids during Christmas anyway so it won’t impede upon her special time that she requested. I could say no and put a big fight, but what good will that do by the end of the day? The golden rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It’s not do unto others how they treated you then retaliate. So Im really trying to be self-less in the situation. The more conflict there is the stress and tension fall upon the children. So Im choosing not to fight during this season. I have plenty of friends/family/readers of this blog that encourage me to take up this battle in the courtroom, but its not the right thing to do at this moment. I even had a few people offer to contribute to a legal fund which I politely declined. Since I’ve been in Bahrain, really since the past three years since my divorce, I’ve had an over-riding peace that I have been doing the right thing and acting in a responsible manner. I know when I veer off of God’s plan that peace goes away. But I know Im doing and living exactly how God would want me to live during this season. There is extreme confidence in that. Right now we are flying over a place called Goteborg and Kristiansand, not I’m a global traveler and I’ve never heard of these places. It just makes me wonder what else in the world is out there. I’d be curious to go visit…if only to walk around. Mr. and Mrs. Finland invited me to visit their home in
Finland. I have lots of invitations like that. Hopefully I’ll be able to make most of those in the near future.
Just about nine more hours (Im halfway) until I get to see my boys again. I really pray I can see my daughter…I miss her so.
My flight left Bahrain at 3:50 AM, my friend Moody was kind of to drive me to the airport at 2:00 AM. Another nice thing about Bahrain, even on an international flight, it takes you all of 20 minutes (tops) to check in. Eid Al Adha is right around the corner so there are a lot of Muslim pilgrims headed to Mecca for the Haj. The Haj (Now muslim readers please correct me if Im wrong in the comment section) is a trip to Mecca where the pilgrims walk around the mosque seven times. I think its seven. I don’t have Internet access up here so I can’t double check my facts. The mosque in Mecca is absolutely massive. Its quite a sight to see all the millions of pilrims that descend upon it. So at the Bahrain airport there were hundreds of Pilgrims waiting for the flights to Mecca. Most we dressed in the national dress (thobe and gutra) and almost all the ladies were in their abayas with full veils. Since Haj is an extremely religious event, most of the women that wear Abayas do so for religious purposes. My co-worker Tanya really doesn’t like the Abayas with the full veil. She calls them ninjas…which is kind of funny.
I had a three hour layover in Dubai. Thankfully I’ve flown enough I could get access to the Business Class lounge. This is a gorgeous lounge. I was chatting with my friend Ms. Florida and I told her being in the lounge made me feel rich.
Im a little bit sad that I do only have nine days to spend with the boys. Well its not even nine. Ex (according to the decree) is making me give them back on Sunday night, then I can pick them up again on Wed. for Thanksgiving break. She requested some special time with the kids at Christmas during my visitation. Even though its not in the decree, I gladly obliged. So I wanted to trade my time at Christmas for extended time to visit at Thanksgiving, she predictably said No. So I’m going to allow her to keep the kids during Christmas anyway so it won’t impede upon her special time that she requested. I could say no and put a big fight, but what good will that do by the end of the day? The golden rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It’s not do unto others how they treated you then retaliate. So Im really trying to be self-less in the situation. The more conflict there is the stress and tension fall upon the children. So Im choosing not to fight during this season. I have plenty of friends/family/readers of this blog that encourage me to take up this battle in the courtroom, but its not the right thing to do at this moment. I even had a few people offer to contribute to a legal fund which I politely declined. Since I’ve been in Bahrain, really since the past three years since my divorce, I’ve had an over-riding peace that I have been doing the right thing and acting in a responsible manner. I know when I veer off of God’s plan that peace goes away. But I know Im doing and living exactly how God would want me to live during this season. There is extreme confidence in that. Right now we are flying over a place called Goteborg and Kristiansand, not I’m a global traveler and I’ve never heard of these places. It just makes me wonder what else in the world is out there. I’d be curious to go visit…if only to walk around. Mr. and Mrs. Finland invited me to visit their home in
Finland. I have lots of invitations like that. Hopefully I’ll be able to make most of those in the near future.
Just about nine more hours (Im halfway) until I get to see my boys again. I really pray I can see my daughter…I miss her so.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
It should have been a lousy day
You know what…this really shouldn’t have been a great day. It should have been one of the worst…but it wound up being a great great day. I was determined to get stressed about potentially losing my phone. But the tests just kept on coming. I made my reservation to fly home two months ago. So I booked them to fly out on the 19th. There is only one flight out at that is 3:50 am. So all this time Im thinking I fly out on Thur. Night/Fri Morning…when in actuality it was Wed. Night/Thur morning. So I woke up this morning…with kind of a sick feeling. I checked my ticket and sure enough. I missed my flight. Boy did I feel foolish. I hopped in the car and headed to the ticketing agent. The traffic was horrible…the longest it had ever taken me to drive that section. But I was determined to stay calm and not get upset over the situation. I got to the ticket agent and was able to rebook my ticket for only the cancellation fee of $75 and the difference in ticket cost which was $125. So Im very very lucky/blessed that everything turned out as smoothly as it did. That has never happened to me before. It turns out it was a huge blessing that I was able to stay an extra day at work. I had so much to do. I was able to get it all done. Im only going to be gone for 9 days, but they are a critical 9 days as there is a project that needs to be nearly completed by the time I get back. I got others to produce it for me, but I have a feeling when I get back…It will be thrown in my lap. Its just a hunch.
I was able to get all my work done plus leave the office on time to play a game of Squash with Mr. Finland. I finally won a game from him. He had beaten me every time we had played thus far. He is turning into a really good friend. He invited me over to dinner after the game. I ate with his lovely wife Mrs. Finland. Mrs. Finland is a wonderful girl, she’s part of Funniest Person in Bahrain Cast. But the best part of the night other than the great food and conversation, were there two boys. They have two boys 4 and 3. I do miss those ages. So I played around, tickled, wrestled and goofed around with them. It not only made me miss my own kids but gave me an incredible desired to have more. I think I will have more someday too. I feel like my life is like Job, where he lost so much, and God restored double to Him for everything he lost. Now the difference between Job and myself is Im certainly not blameless, but I believe I am upright. It will be interesting to see how the rest of my life plays out. But like this morning when I didn’t panic and totally rested in knowing God is in control (even though I screwed up) I know that God will usher out his “perfect” plan in my life. Im totally 100% in believing that he’ll take care of me every step of the way.
I have so many movies to watch and books to read on the plane. Plus Emirates has like 500 hours of entertainment programming on demand. Since not a lot of hit movies make to Bahrain this is my chance to catch up on all the latest. I actually am looking forward to my flight out. Im hoping I can upgrade to Business class on the way back…that would make me look forward to it even more. At this point, I can justify spending the thousands extra for a bigger seat and more diet cokes. So I’ll sit in economy and remind myself, Im making $100/hour just by sitting and sleeping.
My flight leaves in three hours, I haven’t started packing yet…I guess I better get to it.
I was able to get all my work done plus leave the office on time to play a game of Squash with Mr. Finland. I finally won a game from him. He had beaten me every time we had played thus far. He is turning into a really good friend. He invited me over to dinner after the game. I ate with his lovely wife Mrs. Finland. Mrs. Finland is a wonderful girl, she’s part of Funniest Person in Bahrain Cast. But the best part of the night other than the great food and conversation, were there two boys. They have two boys 4 and 3. I do miss those ages. So I played around, tickled, wrestled and goofed around with them. It not only made me miss my own kids but gave me an incredible desired to have more. I think I will have more someday too. I feel like my life is like Job, where he lost so much, and God restored double to Him for everything he lost. Now the difference between Job and myself is Im certainly not blameless, but I believe I am upright. It will be interesting to see how the rest of my life plays out. But like this morning when I didn’t panic and totally rested in knowing God is in control (even though I screwed up) I know that God will usher out his “perfect” plan in my life. Im totally 100% in believing that he’ll take care of me every step of the way.
I have so many movies to watch and books to read on the plane. Plus Emirates has like 500 hours of entertainment programming on demand. Since not a lot of hit movies make to Bahrain this is my chance to catch up on all the latest. I actually am looking forward to my flight out. Im hoping I can upgrade to Business class on the way back…that would make me look forward to it even more. At this point, I can justify spending the thousands extra for a bigger seat and more diet cokes. So I’ll sit in economy and remind myself, Im making $100/hour just by sitting and sleeping.
My flight leaves in three hours, I haven’t started packing yet…I guess I better get to it.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Re-edits, losing phones, and making people laugh
What a busy day today. I have a lot of work I need to do before I leave. I have to re-edit a project before I leave tomorrow (Project #1) and I have to make sure that everything is taken care of for project #3 is re-edited by someone by the time I’m gone. This is not the 12th edit and they are wanting it redone to help celebrate national day…which is very similar to our 4th of July. National Day is usually around December 20th so they decorate everything in red and white so it looks a little bit like Christmas.
I had to head over the Bahrain TV today. I met with the top person there. This was a courtesy visit on his part. We are doing a project for a sister governmental organization and they are helping us out. So they wanted to get together on a social setting which was very nice. Everyone knew I was coming and everyone knew my name. We were in the paper today…so that helped too. One of the benefits I have is that everyone knows Khalifa Shaheen here. I mentioned this in past blogs and I’ll mention it again. In the early 70’s the Wonderful World of Disney on ABC show two episodes here in Bahrain called Hammad and the Pirates. Khalifa was the lead and he also produced the film. So that helped propel him to stardom here in Bahrain. All the locals know and revere Khalifa…that name gets me in a lot of doors. Plus his niece works for the director of Bahrain TV. It seems like Khalifa’s relatives (I think he has about 9 siblings) branch out in every which direction. Bahrain TV is giving us a lot of footage for the revised project. They are giving it to us for free where in the states it would cost upwards of $45 a second.
I got back to the office and Khalifa helped me re-edit a project in Arabic. You can sure tell he’s a director. He hasn’t been in the editing chair for a long time but still the passion was there. I enjoy working with him.
I had to rush out early to play Darren a game of squash. We had to get one more in before I headed back to the U.S. I remember talking to Marloes on the phone as I drove home to take a shower. I was running late and wanted to call the sound guy, who was supposed to meet me at Aqua Fuego (the venue) at 7. But I couldn’t find my phone. I looked everywhere for it…five times. I retraced my steps which weren’t that many. I started to get worried a little bit. What if my phone is gone…I don’t know anyone’s numbers. That the downside of cell phones…you don’t have to learn anyone’s number. What if the sound guys get there and then leaves when he sees that Im not there? So I started to praying. I said God let me find this phone…puhleez…in Jesus name and all that. But no…I couldn’t find it. Then I heard that still small voice say…look under the seat in your car. So I got all excited when down to the car…and still couldn’t find it. I think that’s a lesson that even I am not going to recognize God’s voice all the time. You have to differentiate between God’s voice, my voice, and the voice of the enemy. Most of the time Im right but this time I was wrong. So I was trying to avoid a panic attack. Besides the phone, I was also missing page two of my show outline (or my script). I got in the car and thankfully the sound guy waited and was very cool about it. They set up the new mics…and by this time I was having a low blood sugar as I hadn’t eaten since 10am. So I snuck away to Burger King and wrote the rest of the second page. I was a little worried about the show. We were missing 3 of our top 5 (in my opinion) comics. When we started the audience was small…but by the end of the night the room was full. The performers just nailed it. It was our best show yet. I think there is such a chemistry brewing between all the actors and we just feed off each other. They are performing for each other…not necessarily the crowd. Sam won tonight…and Im so proud of him. The first two nights of the competition he was so scared to go on stage. He used to beg me not to put him up there as he wasn’t feeling it. Now his confidence has grown sooooo much. Im quite proud. I don’t want to take the credit as the performers are all talented. Im just happy I am able to teach/direct the best performance out of them and place them in situations to succeed. So every week (6 now) there has been a different winner. I love that. Its going to be very difficult to come up with a fair and unbiased way to pick the overall funniest person in Bahrain after our ten competitions are completed. Im really happy that a lot of the contestants have gotten to wear the crown so far. The audience really loved the show tonight.
I got home…and remembered…I put the phone in the pocket of my bathrobe…whew…
I had to head over the Bahrain TV today. I met with the top person there. This was a courtesy visit on his part. We are doing a project for a sister governmental organization and they are helping us out. So they wanted to get together on a social setting which was very nice. Everyone knew I was coming and everyone knew my name. We were in the paper today…so that helped too. One of the benefits I have is that everyone knows Khalifa Shaheen here. I mentioned this in past blogs and I’ll mention it again. In the early 70’s the Wonderful World of Disney on ABC show two episodes here in Bahrain called Hammad and the Pirates. Khalifa was the lead and he also produced the film. So that helped propel him to stardom here in Bahrain. All the locals know and revere Khalifa…that name gets me in a lot of doors. Plus his niece works for the director of Bahrain TV. It seems like Khalifa’s relatives (I think he has about 9 siblings) branch out in every which direction. Bahrain TV is giving us a lot of footage for the revised project. They are giving it to us for free where in the states it would cost upwards of $45 a second.
I got back to the office and Khalifa helped me re-edit a project in Arabic. You can sure tell he’s a director. He hasn’t been in the editing chair for a long time but still the passion was there. I enjoy working with him.
I had to rush out early to play Darren a game of squash. We had to get one more in before I headed back to the U.S. I remember talking to Marloes on the phone as I drove home to take a shower. I was running late and wanted to call the sound guy, who was supposed to meet me at Aqua Fuego (the venue) at 7. But I couldn’t find my phone. I looked everywhere for it…five times. I retraced my steps which weren’t that many. I started to get worried a little bit. What if my phone is gone…I don’t know anyone’s numbers. That the downside of cell phones…you don’t have to learn anyone’s number. What if the sound guys get there and then leaves when he sees that Im not there? So I started to praying. I said God let me find this phone…puhleez…in Jesus name and all that. But no…I couldn’t find it. Then I heard that still small voice say…look under the seat in your car. So I got all excited when down to the car…and still couldn’t find it. I think that’s a lesson that even I am not going to recognize God’s voice all the time. You have to differentiate between God’s voice, my voice, and the voice of the enemy. Most of the time Im right but this time I was wrong. So I was trying to avoid a panic attack. Besides the phone, I was also missing page two of my show outline (or my script). I got in the car and thankfully the sound guy waited and was very cool about it. They set up the new mics…and by this time I was having a low blood sugar as I hadn’t eaten since 10am. So I snuck away to Burger King and wrote the rest of the second page. I was a little worried about the show. We were missing 3 of our top 5 (in my opinion) comics. When we started the audience was small…but by the end of the night the room was full. The performers just nailed it. It was our best show yet. I think there is such a chemistry brewing between all the actors and we just feed off each other. They are performing for each other…not necessarily the crowd. Sam won tonight…and Im so proud of him. The first two nights of the competition he was so scared to go on stage. He used to beg me not to put him up there as he wasn’t feeling it. Now his confidence has grown sooooo much. Im quite proud. I don’t want to take the credit as the performers are all talented. Im just happy I am able to teach/direct the best performance out of them and place them in situations to succeed. So every week (6 now) there has been a different winner. I love that. Its going to be very difficult to come up with a fair and unbiased way to pick the overall funniest person in Bahrain after our ten competitions are completed. Im really happy that a lot of the contestants have gotten to wear the crown so far. The audience really loved the show tonight.
I got home…and remembered…I put the phone in the pocket of my bathrobe…whew…
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Calm and then blammo....
I was having such a problem getting motivated at work. Then blamo…everything hit at once. Now Im incredibly busy. Project #3 which already had 10 edits and has been duplicated with 1000 dvd’s is now being redone. The revised script makes it almost like an entirely new project. The good thing is that we get to charge for the re-edit so its almost like a new client. We’ll make changes all day long as long as the client pays for it. But the final product has very little resemblance to the original. The original was so nice and poetic, yet this thing has been so chopped up by the political powers that be, its quite homogenous now. At least I have the director’s cut. William Goldman, the famous American Screenwriter, once said if you can keep 50% of your original draft by the time you hit the screen…consider yourself a huge success. Well…I’ve kept about 20% of the original draft. I’ll post it on youtube after the event.
Now the tricky part for me is that they want all these changes done by Dec. 6. Im leaving for 11 days on Thursday. So Im going to pass the project off to Nader. Hopefully he’ll be able to get most of it done by the time I get back. I so need this vacation…even though it’s a short one…Im going to be doing everything I can not to think about work while Im away. Oh…and another troubling thing about my trip. Once people find out that you are traveling back to the U.S. they say…would you mind picking me up something….one person is fine, two people ok…but what a hassle for six. They are only asking for one or two items but when you multiply it by 6. Oh well…I’ll try to keep a good attitude about it all.
Tomorrow is going to be a big day. We have our sixth version of The Funniest Person in Bahrain tomorrow night. I have to script out the scenarios. Even though it is improv, it’s a lot of work for me doing the show rundown creating scenarios to which my actors can excel. I just love brightening people’s lives and laughter is such a good way to do that. My actors really take pride in it as well. At first they were very nervous and when they were nervous they went for the easy humor with the sex jokes. But Ive been hammering them to be more creative than that. It really has been working.
This is kind of a strange little thing, but I think it gives a little bit of insight into me. I woke up this morning with a voicemail from my youngest son. It wasn’t much…just Daddy call me back. Just hearing his voice made my day. I miss those kids…a lot. I’m really looking forward to seeing them again.
Now the tricky part for me is that they want all these changes done by Dec. 6. Im leaving for 11 days on Thursday. So Im going to pass the project off to Nader. Hopefully he’ll be able to get most of it done by the time I get back. I so need this vacation…even though it’s a short one…Im going to be doing everything I can not to think about work while Im away. Oh…and another troubling thing about my trip. Once people find out that you are traveling back to the U.S. they say…would you mind picking me up something….one person is fine, two people ok…but what a hassle for six. They are only asking for one or two items but when you multiply it by 6. Oh well…I’ll try to keep a good attitude about it all.
Tomorrow is going to be a big day. We have our sixth version of The Funniest Person in Bahrain tomorrow night. I have to script out the scenarios. Even though it is improv, it’s a lot of work for me doing the show rundown creating scenarios to which my actors can excel. I just love brightening people’s lives and laughter is such a good way to do that. My actors really take pride in it as well. At first they were very nervous and when they were nervous they went for the easy humor with the sex jokes. But Ive been hammering them to be more creative than that. It really has been working.
This is kind of a strange little thing, but I think it gives a little bit of insight into me. I woke up this morning with a voicemail from my youngest son. It wasn’t much…just Daddy call me back. Just hearing his voice made my day. I miss those kids…a lot. I’m really looking forward to seeing them again.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Counting down to my 17 hour flight
It was a really nice day. The closer I get to Thursday night the more excited I get. I can’t wait to see my kids. Hopefully they’ll want to see me.
We had such a wonderful positive living group tonight. There were six of us. I always provide dinner for the group. Its my thing as I try to be a servant…or a blessing. This time I went to the same place that my Muslim friend took me on Saturday. I was running a little bit late, so I had to hurry. This was downtown where there are a lot of cars parked every which way and traffic is going in all directions. Where I live in Juffair, near the navy base, it doesn’t feel like the Middle East. This downtown restaurant…certainly felt like the Middle East. There was no parking, so I drove my mini-suv up on the curb. Apparently that’s quite acceptable here. So I dodged traffic crossing the street and got Lamb Tikka, and Chicken Tikka, a Bahraini specialty. The little stands resemble the stands of a Taco stand, only its indoors. There is an open charcoal grill that is fanned by an electric fan. The cook the meat right there on the grill. It’s absolutely delicious and very cheap too. I heartily fed the seven of us for seven Bahraini Dinars which equates to $18. This place would fail most health standards checks…like a lot of these types of cafeteria type of places would…but the food still is delicious.
The message for the group was…not letting the enemy steal your joy. Don’t let the little things get you down. I would say I’ve been trying to make that my life for the last three years. I openly talk about my divorce…not to be vindictive but to illustrate that positive living really works. With all the heartache and pain I have endured I have every reason to be bitter and resentful about life. But I make a conscious effort to look at the good things. Don’t focus on what you don’t have…focus on what you have. If I look at it that way, I have three very healthy children that love their dad. I know our relationship will be restored someday soon to the place where it should be. I have so much to be happy for. The knock on Osteen is that he paints too “pollyannish” of a picture of Christianity glossing over the troubles that we have in life. I think that is why Im so upfront about my own life. I think Im the perfect example that this positive way of believing really does work. So its not just a man Im supporting…but its his message. We had a bright new guy come to the group. He’s from Oklahoma, so it was nice to connect with another Sooner. He was talking that Joel’s message today was almost the same exact message that he had earlier with a friend. I told him any time that God wants to tell you something important he’ll repeat through 2-3 ways to make sure that you get it. It’s nice to see that the group is benefitting someone more than just myself.
It was Moody’s birthday today (he’s one of the regulars of my group). So I ran down and had the security guard go buy me a cake for him. I have him some dinars to do it and he was glad to help. I always order too much food for our positive living groups because I always want to have too much rather than not enough. So I always fix the guard a plate of food. I figure he probably doesn’t get to eat this type of food too often. Some of the workers here get paid so little. They mainly eat briyani, which is a chicken flavored rice dish seven days a week. They are perfectly fine with that food. I don’t know how I’d survive on eating just that. I am a spoiled American in every sense of the word.
Im actually looking forward to the 17 hour flight non-stop from Dubai to Houston. If that isn’t looking at the glass half full…im not really sure what is.
We had such a wonderful positive living group tonight. There were six of us. I always provide dinner for the group. Its my thing as I try to be a servant…or a blessing. This time I went to the same place that my Muslim friend took me on Saturday. I was running a little bit late, so I had to hurry. This was downtown where there are a lot of cars parked every which way and traffic is going in all directions. Where I live in Juffair, near the navy base, it doesn’t feel like the Middle East. This downtown restaurant…certainly felt like the Middle East. There was no parking, so I drove my mini-suv up on the curb. Apparently that’s quite acceptable here. So I dodged traffic crossing the street and got Lamb Tikka, and Chicken Tikka, a Bahraini specialty. The little stands resemble the stands of a Taco stand, only its indoors. There is an open charcoal grill that is fanned by an electric fan. The cook the meat right there on the grill. It’s absolutely delicious and very cheap too. I heartily fed the seven of us for seven Bahraini Dinars which equates to $18. This place would fail most health standards checks…like a lot of these types of cafeteria type of places would…but the food still is delicious.
The message for the group was…not letting the enemy steal your joy. Don’t let the little things get you down. I would say I’ve been trying to make that my life for the last three years. I openly talk about my divorce…not to be vindictive but to illustrate that positive living really works. With all the heartache and pain I have endured I have every reason to be bitter and resentful about life. But I make a conscious effort to look at the good things. Don’t focus on what you don’t have…focus on what you have. If I look at it that way, I have three very healthy children that love their dad. I know our relationship will be restored someday soon to the place where it should be. I have so much to be happy for. The knock on Osteen is that he paints too “pollyannish” of a picture of Christianity glossing over the troubles that we have in life. I think that is why Im so upfront about my own life. I think Im the perfect example that this positive way of believing really does work. So its not just a man Im supporting…but its his message. We had a bright new guy come to the group. He’s from Oklahoma, so it was nice to connect with another Sooner. He was talking that Joel’s message today was almost the same exact message that he had earlier with a friend. I told him any time that God wants to tell you something important he’ll repeat through 2-3 ways to make sure that you get it. It’s nice to see that the group is benefitting someone more than just myself.
It was Moody’s birthday today (he’s one of the regulars of my group). So I ran down and had the security guard go buy me a cake for him. I have him some dinars to do it and he was glad to help. I always order too much food for our positive living groups because I always want to have too much rather than not enough. So I always fix the guard a plate of food. I figure he probably doesn’t get to eat this type of food too often. Some of the workers here get paid so little. They mainly eat briyani, which is a chicken flavored rice dish seven days a week. They are perfectly fine with that food. I don’t know how I’d survive on eating just that. I am a spoiled American in every sense of the word.
Im actually looking forward to the 17 hour flight non-stop from Dubai to Houston. If that isn’t looking at the glass half full…im not really sure what is.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Exceptions to the rule
Im pretty tired tonight so I don’t know how much long I’ll be typing. Its so hard for me to mentally undertake a project knowing I’ll be gone in four days. I don’t want to get started and then have to have it wait for the 11 days which I’ll be gone.
There is a pretty tragic story going around that is affecting a lot of people close to home. In this area of Bahrain there are a lot of mixed marriages. Many of my friends are half Bahraini…half another culture. That is just common as Bahrain is a melting pot of cultures/races. But what has recently happened is the stuff of Hollywood and its going on right now. I talk about all the great things about Bahrain there are some negative aspects to Arabic culture as well. There is a child by the name of Adam. He is a young kid about 11 years old and goes to St. Christopher’s School, the school where we once held our acting classes and currently our church meets there. Adam had a mother from the UK and her father was from Qatar. Well Adam’s mother got divorced and subsequently remarried and stayed in Bahrain. Meanwhile Adam’s biological father, the Qatari, passed away. Im not sure when but I think it was a year or so ago. Adam was visiting his father’s parents with his mother. His paternal grandmother invited him out for an afternoon and he never came back home. She essentially kidnapped him. Adam’s mother tried all that she could to get him back, but since the people that took him were Qataris, she isn’t given any authority at all…even though she was the mother. So some the parents of St. Christopher school have launched a big grass roots “Bring Adam Home” campaign. There are facebook groups, everyone is wearing yellow ribbons, newspaper editorials have been written and letters to the UK parliament have also been written. They are trying to raise up enough awareness to prod the UK government into intervening. Its pretty sad how the child is being used in this matter by unscrupulous and self-centered people. Nader is doing a video of the story in an effort to raise awareness of the plight of the family. I hope it comes to a happy and quick resolution. This is just like a film they made in the 80’s with Sally Field called “Not Without my Daughter.” Kidnapping is a horrible crime but I don’t want this one event to color an entire race of people. Per capital there are multiple times more kidnappings in the U.S. than any arab country. But because its so rare here, that’s why its getting an inordinate amount of press.
Speaking of rarities, I had kind of a show outside my flat last night. I live on the second floor, but they call it the first floor, with the real first floor being called the ground floor. Anyways, Im about 20 feet above the street. I heard a ruckus last night and went to check it out. There was this drunk Bahraini, without a shirt and shoes, standing in the middle of the road with a brick in his hand and swearing at cars as they drove by. The cars would slow down for safety and then the drunk guy would swear at the car and rear back his hand like he was going to throw the brick at them. The car would then speed off and he wound up kicking the car. One car sped off and he kicked it. The guy got out of the passenger side and the drunk guy reared back as he was about to throw the brick. So the driver took off leaving the passenger in the middle of the road. He initially ran away in fear, but then saw another brick. So they started throwing the bricks at each other. Then the police arrived…and the police just stayed in their car for five minutes. Meanwhile…Im watching a great reality show. So the drunk guy throws the brick first and missed by a longshot. Then the other guy throws and hits the drunk guy square in the back with a brick. Drunk guy picks the brick up and then smashes the back car window with it. Im not sure if anyone was in the back. So then he started getting in a fistfight with a few people standing around and a group finally subdued him. All this while the police were waiting in their car. I don’t know if they were waiting for back up or what the reason was. So after this man is pinned, the policemen finally arrest him and it takes then like 10 minutes to get him into their car. All this right below my window. So finally they carted him off, as a crowd of about 50 had gathered, but I had the best vantage point. I imagine the guy had been drinking all day because he was upset about Bahrain losing a chance to go to the World Cup. They missed just by one goal. They would have been the smallest country to ever send a team to the World Cup. So a lot of people were very very upset. There is a lot of national pride for being so tiny. It was front page news on every paper today. Each paper dedicated between 6-10 full pages on the match. Its really a shame they lost, I would have liked to have been part of the celebration.
There is a pretty tragic story going around that is affecting a lot of people close to home. In this area of Bahrain there are a lot of mixed marriages. Many of my friends are half Bahraini…half another culture. That is just common as Bahrain is a melting pot of cultures/races. But what has recently happened is the stuff of Hollywood and its going on right now. I talk about all the great things about Bahrain there are some negative aspects to Arabic culture as well. There is a child by the name of Adam. He is a young kid about 11 years old and goes to St. Christopher’s School, the school where we once held our acting classes and currently our church meets there. Adam had a mother from the UK and her father was from Qatar. Well Adam’s mother got divorced and subsequently remarried and stayed in Bahrain. Meanwhile Adam’s biological father, the Qatari, passed away. Im not sure when but I think it was a year or so ago. Adam was visiting his father’s parents with his mother. His paternal grandmother invited him out for an afternoon and he never came back home. She essentially kidnapped him. Adam’s mother tried all that she could to get him back, but since the people that took him were Qataris, she isn’t given any authority at all…even though she was the mother. So some the parents of St. Christopher school have launched a big grass roots “Bring Adam Home” campaign. There are facebook groups, everyone is wearing yellow ribbons, newspaper editorials have been written and letters to the UK parliament have also been written. They are trying to raise up enough awareness to prod the UK government into intervening. Its pretty sad how the child is being used in this matter by unscrupulous and self-centered people. Nader is doing a video of the story in an effort to raise awareness of the plight of the family. I hope it comes to a happy and quick resolution. This is just like a film they made in the 80’s with Sally Field called “Not Without my Daughter.” Kidnapping is a horrible crime but I don’t want this one event to color an entire race of people. Per capital there are multiple times more kidnappings in the U.S. than any arab country. But because its so rare here, that’s why its getting an inordinate amount of press.
Speaking of rarities, I had kind of a show outside my flat last night. I live on the second floor, but they call it the first floor, with the real first floor being called the ground floor. Anyways, Im about 20 feet above the street. I heard a ruckus last night and went to check it out. There was this drunk Bahraini, without a shirt and shoes, standing in the middle of the road with a brick in his hand and swearing at cars as they drove by. The cars would slow down for safety and then the drunk guy would swear at the car and rear back his hand like he was going to throw the brick at them. The car would then speed off and he wound up kicking the car. One car sped off and he kicked it. The guy got out of the passenger side and the drunk guy reared back as he was about to throw the brick. So the driver took off leaving the passenger in the middle of the road. He initially ran away in fear, but then saw another brick. So they started throwing the bricks at each other. Then the police arrived…and the police just stayed in their car for five minutes. Meanwhile…Im watching a great reality show. So the drunk guy throws the brick first and missed by a longshot. Then the other guy throws and hits the drunk guy square in the back with a brick. Drunk guy picks the brick up and then smashes the back car window with it. Im not sure if anyone was in the back. So then he started getting in a fistfight with a few people standing around and a group finally subdued him. All this while the police were waiting in their car. I don’t know if they were waiting for back up or what the reason was. So after this man is pinned, the policemen finally arrest him and it takes then like 10 minutes to get him into their car. All this right below my window. So finally they carted him off, as a crowd of about 50 had gathered, but I had the best vantage point. I imagine the guy had been drinking all day because he was upset about Bahrain losing a chance to go to the World Cup. They missed just by one goal. They would have been the smallest country to ever send a team to the World Cup. So a lot of people were very very upset. There is a lot of national pride for being so tiny. It was front page news on every paper today. Each paper dedicated between 6-10 full pages on the match. Its really a shame they lost, I would have liked to have been part of the celebration.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Getting hit with the squash ball
What a nice weekend it was for me. I had pretty much the perfect mix of socialization and alone time. I got up to watch the world cup qualifying match between Bahrain and New Zealand. The kiwis won, 1-0 or 1-nil, and Bahrain won’t go to the World cup now. Everyone here is pretty disappointed. Bahrain is such a small country, that going to a prominent global event is a big deal. Honestly you people outside of Bahrain, how many of you heard about it before I came here? I didn’t know it was a country either til I moved to Saudi Arabia. Its pretty small and obscure. I was talking with a friend about it, life here is still really surreal. I’ll be moving to Amwaj Island in January. My friend that married the Romanian wants me to live in his villa. The cool thing is the villa back up to a canal that leads to the gulf. So in my backyard I have a beautiful gulf view and the water is very calm. So I get to dock my kayak in my backyard, How cool is that. My friend Ms. Florida said it looked like a vacation resort. It really does. It feels like Im on a working vacation. Now I’ve enumerated many many times how much I love my job. But its been quite troubling with the difficult clients and cash flow issues to continue to love what I do. I excel in the creative/production realm. I am good at the business management sales side, but Im not great. Clint Eastwood said in Magnum Force as Dirty Harry “A man’s got to know his limitations.” Before he blew away the bad guy. So with the restructuring of the office with Nader taking a more business management role, and me focusing in on production, I think we will be OK. That will put me in an area of my strength. It’s been expected of me to do everything. But when I have to write, produce, edit, not one project but three with a tough deadline, my focus was somewhat divided. Fortunately we have navigated through the financial crisis point and are doing better now.
After the game the three of us that watched the soccer match when shopping in the downtown Muharraq souq. That was quite interesting. I wanted to bring along my friend Moody, since he’s Bahraini. He negotiated for me. The vendors see my white skin coming and think American tourist and jack up the prices five times. So that was an adventure. We didn’t get everything we needed but we got a lot of stuff…pretty cheap too.
I came back to play Darren another match at squash. We really enjoy playing each other because we are so evenly matched. I think he might be just a tiny bit better than me for the moment but we swing back and forth, but please don’t tell him. Our matches our sooooo intense we really give absolutely everything but you will never find two better examples of sportsmanship. When each of us makes incredible shots (incredible in our minds) we cheer each other on. Neither of us likes to lose, but its more important to play with grace and dignity.
I came back home and I’ve been relaxing ever since. Oh yesterday, I ran into Syd Bell at the British Club. Syd is a nice guy and he was the main contractor/point person for our video projects for the port. I call him the voice of reason. It was just after a squash match, and I was looking pretty grungy. I asked him if he ever played squash. He said…let me tell you a story about squash. He said, I’ve played squash for 25 years in Scotland, I used to coach and teach professionals. About four years ago in that court right there (the court I just finished playing in) I was teaching a student and I got hit in the eye with the squash ball. That is the only time I’ve ever been hit in 25 years. I’ve had six eye operations since then, and my right eye is currently being held together by plastic. I can no longer exercise at all, and I can’t lift my right arm above my head. I went out and bought a pair of goggles the next day. I’ll be wearing them from here on out.
After the game the three of us that watched the soccer match when shopping in the downtown Muharraq souq. That was quite interesting. I wanted to bring along my friend Moody, since he’s Bahraini. He negotiated for me. The vendors see my white skin coming and think American tourist and jack up the prices five times. So that was an adventure. We didn’t get everything we needed but we got a lot of stuff…pretty cheap too.
I came back to play Darren another match at squash. We really enjoy playing each other because we are so evenly matched. I think he might be just a tiny bit better than me for the moment but we swing back and forth, but please don’t tell him. Our matches our sooooo intense we really give absolutely everything but you will never find two better examples of sportsmanship. When each of us makes incredible shots (incredible in our minds) we cheer each other on. Neither of us likes to lose, but its more important to play with grace and dignity.
I came back home and I’ve been relaxing ever since. Oh yesterday, I ran into Syd Bell at the British Club. Syd is a nice guy and he was the main contractor/point person for our video projects for the port. I call him the voice of reason. It was just after a squash match, and I was looking pretty grungy. I asked him if he ever played squash. He said…let me tell you a story about squash. He said, I’ve played squash for 25 years in Scotland, I used to coach and teach professionals. About four years ago in that court right there (the court I just finished playing in) I was teaching a student and I got hit in the eye with the squash ball. That is the only time I’ve ever been hit in 25 years. I’ve had six eye operations since then, and my right eye is currently being held together by plastic. I can no longer exercise at all, and I can’t lift my right arm above my head. I went out and bought a pair of goggles the next day. I’ll be wearing them from here on out.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Perspectives
What a very nice day it has been. I woke up to find a nasty comment posted by X on the blog. I generally don’t delete comments unless they involve references to my children. But I read this and the only motivation I could find was X to be vindictive and hurtful. What struck me the most was really sadness…almost pity that so much hate can come from one person. Not in words but in actions. I had a talk with Ms. Florida about it. There is a part of me that will always love X because she is the mother of my children. I still care for her very much and wish we could communicate more about the children. But there is just so much animosity from her that it just makes communication impossible. This backwards way of through the blog her reading and responding is the only way we can communicate. That is really sad, especially since she was my best friend for so many years. I hope with time, someday we will be able to talk again. That is my prayer anyway. So I called Ms. Florida and talked to her about it and she asked…how does this make you feel? I can honestly say it didn’t affect me…maybe it stunned me for a moment but I don’t dwell on the negative. I’ve found whenever there is bitterness, anger and resentment that build up in my heart the quickest way to extinguish that is to pray for that person. The Bible does say Pray for those who persecute you. I think its psychologically impossible to hate someone you are praying for. I don’t know how it works, but it works. So I pray for X and new Hubby every time my mind is tempted to dwell on the negative.. I think that is one of the reasons why I can keep such a positive attitude. I was speaking with Ms. Ireland a little later in the day. She really is a dear friend. She said…you are the most positive person I’ve ever met Rick. I don’t know how you do it. So we started talking because Ms. Ireland happens to be a lovely girl that tends to be on the negative side A LOT. I explained that her negativity is familiar and she’s comfortable in the familiarity. If she wants to adjust that, she has to make a conscious choice to look at the bright sides more and its just not going to happen overnight. Just like you can’t run a marathon overnight…you have to build up your endurance one mile at a time. Positivity is a process that can sometimes take weeks, months, or years. I believe that all Christians…or Christ followers should be inherently Joyful, Peaceful and positive most of the time. Otherwise I think you are doing something wrong. The Joy of the Lord is our strength and its also the most effective witnessing tool we have. The positive focus is the criticism that Osteen falls under. You are going to have crappy things that happen to you…like that comment earlier today…but how you process that information determines your level of peace and joy. I could have dwelt on the injustice and got all angry and said…It’s not fair.” But who is that affecting other than me? Bitterness can’t exist with peacefulness. So I just let that kind of crap go. My buddy said…Bitterness is a poison you ingest and hope the other guy is going to die. I can honestly say I hope that X is happy. Because if she’s happy then the kids will have a better environment to be reared. That is my constant prayer. The kids have already lost so much they don’t need more strife. I know I do talk about X a lot, but this is not meant as a character assassination. If I wanted to do that…I’d share more of the details. Instead I try to talk in more generalities, and am trying to use myself and my experiences as a case study for others. Most of you have no idea who X and will never ever meet her, so she is like a character in a play as far as the readership is concerned. So I try to share my frustrations and successes not to tear her down, but instead to serve as a cautionary tale at the devastation of divorce. She may indeed be happy that is between her and God…but it sure has desolated everything that I had once held dear. The rebuilding process was difficult, but because I leaned on the Lord so heavily he used this negative experience to build me up into the man I am today. What the devil meant for evil God will turn for good. Im a walking infomercial for that verse. Im not totally healed from the divorce, and I probably never will be, but I think Im mostly healed. I think true healing will come when I finally get married again and have an outlet for the love that I have inside. I hope that some of you that read this, gain what Im trying to accomplish in warning you that Divorce simply sucks. If you’re thinking about it, don’t. Love is a choice, Marriage is a commitment. Like everything in life it has its challenges…you just have to be resolute enough to work through those challenges. With God and perseverance anything is possible. Without God…its awfully difficult.
Wow…I didn’t mean to get all preachy there. The words just kind of flow sometimes as I feel an anointing from the spirit. Maybe somebody, somewhere out there needed to hear that.
I had such a nice day. After church I went out to eat with friends at a place called the Country Club. They have pork bacon…Yay!!!! Then it was off to the British Club to play Darren in squash. Darren just came back from a 3 weeks medical missions trip in India. It was nice to connect with him. Yet he beat me again. This is becoming a habit. I don’t like losing. But its great exercise that’s mostly why we do it. But it would be more fun with a few more victories under my belt.
Then tonight my muslim friend that often comes to our Positive living group invited me out with his friends. What a great night we had. The weather was almost perfect…like San Diego. We went to downtown and ate in a little café. The food for 5 of us was around $12. It was delicious. But it was getting to know knew friends that was the really nice part. These guys were all muslims, many from Pakistan and Bahrain. But we just had such a nice time talking about Christianity, Islam, and life in Bahrain. Afterwards we went to desert at this great little café. These are Sheesha cafes where they smoke fruit flavored tobacco, like grape, cherry, strawberry etc…out of something like a bong. I didn’t smoke, but the restaurant was full of them. This smokeless tobacco does give you a little bit of a buzz Im told. Im told its somewhere between cigarettes and marijuana. The deserts were nice, but the conversation was even better. Im living a pretty cool life out here. Im fortunate…but I do miss the relationship with my kids. Please continue to pray for the restoration of that relationship. I see your prayers working first hand. Thank you.
Wow…I didn’t mean to get all preachy there. The words just kind of flow sometimes as I feel an anointing from the spirit. Maybe somebody, somewhere out there needed to hear that.
I had such a nice day. After church I went out to eat with friends at a place called the Country Club. They have pork bacon…Yay!!!! Then it was off to the British Club to play Darren in squash. Darren just came back from a 3 weeks medical missions trip in India. It was nice to connect with him. Yet he beat me again. This is becoming a habit. I don’t like losing. But its great exercise that’s mostly why we do it. But it would be more fun with a few more victories under my belt.
Then tonight my muslim friend that often comes to our Positive living group invited me out with his friends. What a great night we had. The weather was almost perfect…like San Diego. We went to downtown and ate in a little café. The food for 5 of us was around $12. It was delicious. But it was getting to know knew friends that was the really nice part. These guys were all muslims, many from Pakistan and Bahrain. But we just had such a nice time talking about Christianity, Islam, and life in Bahrain. Afterwards we went to desert at this great little café. These are Sheesha cafes where they smoke fruit flavored tobacco, like grape, cherry, strawberry etc…out of something like a bong. I didn’t smoke, but the restaurant was full of them. This smokeless tobacco does give you a little bit of a buzz Im told. Im told its somewhere between cigarettes and marijuana. The deserts were nice, but the conversation was even better. Im living a pretty cool life out here. Im fortunate…but I do miss the relationship with my kids. Please continue to pray for the restoration of that relationship. I see your prayers working first hand. Thank you.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Spinal Tap claims another drummer
It is very hard to get motivated at work. Im being halfway efficient, just not 100% efficient like I was a few weeks ago. I had to stay so focused and work on so many projects. Perhaps I just need a vacation and am checking out early til I leave next week. Im really looking forward to that trip to see my kids. Its hard to undertake any large projects knowing Im going to be gone for 10 days. So Im just trying to wrap up the remnants of the little things I still have to do. I got some more discouraging news, our sales/marketing manager is resigning after two months. So all that work, effort and training is down the drain. That sales position is like the Drummer from Spinal tap. I just can’t keep them around. No one here gets that humor. Maybe people will get that Sales position is like Kenny from South Park. I will now have to be hiring my sixth sales manager. Im hoping Nader finds and hires this one, because apparently Im not a good judge of human resource talent in the sales field. We are going to shift things around a bit in the office and Im pretty happy about that. I will be more focusing in on the production end, and Nader the more business managerial side. It really helps me focus on my core talents. I was a decent manager but I did make mistakes particularly on one very large project. My problem was I let the client walk over me. I was too nice. That was X’s complaint when we lived in Los Angeles, when you are too nice people sometimes take advantage of you. Nader taught me a lot about doing business in the Middle East. You have to be forthright and stand up for yourself otherwise they will walk all over you. You also are not supposed to ever admit you are wrong or admit you made a mistake. Im going to have a hard time with that one. I so readily admit when Im wrong. I think I do so to help other people think its ok for them to be wrong. Perhaps being humble and admitting mistakes would be good in Western culture, but it doesn’t go over well here. But still I think Im called to live differently. If I make a mistake I’ll still take ownership of it, and let the chips fall where they may. My character should win out more often than not.
I went to see a really interesting movie today, it was 2012. I say that because it opened up here a day before it opened in the U.S. because our weekend starts earlier here. So I just wanted to rub it in. Movies usually get here after their DVD release in the U.S. Then some movies just keep playing over and over again. Angels and Demons for the first time in almost a year stopped playing this week. Why Angels and Demons? I have no idea.
I was supposed to have a relaxing weekend, but I have 3-4 activities each day. So Im not sure If Im going to get my coveted weekend nap. But that is OK too. After a few months of working really really hard, I didn’t work that hard this week. So the naps are less critical. Happy Birthday Ms. Florida.
I went to see a really interesting movie today, it was 2012. I say that because it opened up here a day before it opened in the U.S. because our weekend starts earlier here. So I just wanted to rub it in. Movies usually get here after their DVD release in the U.S. Then some movies just keep playing over and over again. Angels and Demons for the first time in almost a year stopped playing this week. Why Angels and Demons? I have no idea.
I was supposed to have a relaxing weekend, but I have 3-4 activities each day. So Im not sure If Im going to get my coveted weekend nap. But that is OK too. After a few months of working really really hard, I didn’t work that hard this week. So the naps are less critical. Happy Birthday Ms. Florida.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
So glad the 6 weeks are over
Another very good day. Its amazing that six weeks of tough times was exactly the six weeks like God had specifically indicated to me. Ever since I’ve made it out of that period things have just been a lot lighter. I really think it was a period of testing for me. It also encourages me that if God is accurate when he tells me that times will be tough, that means he’ll be accurate when things are good as well. I think December is going to be an amazing month for me. I’ve kind of felt it coming on for some time now. My dear friend Reji also prophesied that over me as well. So Im really looking forward to that month. Even the rest of November is shaping up to be fantastic. I have one week to go before I fly back to the U.S. Im so looking forward to seeing my children. I hope I can see my daughter…its been so long. I really do miss her. Please pray for the restoration of that relationship.
We had a pretty important meeting today. How this meeting came about was pretty interesting. There was this person, whom I didn’t know, started reading and commenting about my blog. I don’t want to use his name, but the guy is a really nice guy. He had come to my Pos. living group and we just really struck up a good friendship. Well he was working for a company that needs a very big project done. Because we had this relationship he invited KSDi to bid on it. This is where we were today. If it happens it could be one of the biggest deals in KSDi’s history. All this potential as a result of a divine connection through this blog. There are so many possibilities of what could happen between now and the end of December. But I think I’ve learned from God not to worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will take care of itself. I am in total peace and confidence about what the future will indeed hold for me. This is such amazingly strong faith, the likes of which I’ve never experienced before. I think that is what the last four years have all been about for me. Its God teaching me to completely abandon all hope in myself and rely 100% on God. I think I’ve got it now.
After the meeting, Pat the basketball coach invited me over for a lunch at his house with Mr. Harlem and his wife. We got talking about philosophy and it was really interesting talking about the meaning of life. I think I’ve got the answer down for the meaning of life. Its all about denying self. The more you can deny self the happier you will be, as long as you put God in that place. It seems the more self-centered we become the more miserable we are inside. People sometimes ask how do you know when you are in love? The answer I think is simple. Its when your partner’s needs become more important than your own. Conversely how do you know when you are out of love, when your needs become more important. If you think about Divorce for instance (other than abuse and continuous adultery) it’s the most selfish act anyone can ever do…other than murder. I wish someone would write a book (or maybe I should) that interviews people that sought divorces then find out if they honestly later regret it. Maybe I’ll start a facebook group. Hindsight is always 20/20. Perhaps if more young people would be warned about the pitfalls of divorce perhaps they would reconsider. The grass is not greener on the other side. There are just as many piles of crap on the other side of the fence as there are on your side. That is the bastardization of the American dream. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Too many people think I want to be happy…and don’t want to wait for it. So they take a short cut. That short cut is a lie from the pit of Hell. Oh you might have some people out there that claim they are happier from their divorce…but I don’t think I would believe them. Divorce is absolutely devastating. That is probably one of the reasons why Im railing so hard against it. I hate divorce and I see why God hates it as well. Its absolutely devastating to everyone. Like drugs..maybe we need to create a educational program targeted towards the youth…like the “Just Say No” program. It also would be an interesting study to find out the percentage of divorces that come from a previously divorced household. I have a feeling that children such as myself that have a two parent family that stays together their children have a much lower percentage of divorce than a child that comes from a divorced home. I think divorce might be a generational curse, like alcohol, drugs, abuse, or other generational curses. It would be an interesting study. In the meantime…Im trying to do what God did with Joseph, “What the devil meant for evil God will turn for good.” If some good could come out of my divorce and my sharing about it…that would make me very satisfied. God is faithful…and God is in control.
We had a pretty important meeting today. How this meeting came about was pretty interesting. There was this person, whom I didn’t know, started reading and commenting about my blog. I don’t want to use his name, but the guy is a really nice guy. He had come to my Pos. living group and we just really struck up a good friendship. Well he was working for a company that needs a very big project done. Because we had this relationship he invited KSDi to bid on it. This is where we were today. If it happens it could be one of the biggest deals in KSDi’s history. All this potential as a result of a divine connection through this blog. There are so many possibilities of what could happen between now and the end of December. But I think I’ve learned from God not to worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will take care of itself. I am in total peace and confidence about what the future will indeed hold for me. This is such amazingly strong faith, the likes of which I’ve never experienced before. I think that is what the last four years have all been about for me. Its God teaching me to completely abandon all hope in myself and rely 100% on God. I think I’ve got it now.
After the meeting, Pat the basketball coach invited me over for a lunch at his house with Mr. Harlem and his wife. We got talking about philosophy and it was really interesting talking about the meaning of life. I think I’ve got the answer down for the meaning of life. Its all about denying self. The more you can deny self the happier you will be, as long as you put God in that place. It seems the more self-centered we become the more miserable we are inside. People sometimes ask how do you know when you are in love? The answer I think is simple. Its when your partner’s needs become more important than your own. Conversely how do you know when you are out of love, when your needs become more important. If you think about Divorce for instance (other than abuse and continuous adultery) it’s the most selfish act anyone can ever do…other than murder. I wish someone would write a book (or maybe I should) that interviews people that sought divorces then find out if they honestly later regret it. Maybe I’ll start a facebook group. Hindsight is always 20/20. Perhaps if more young people would be warned about the pitfalls of divorce perhaps they would reconsider. The grass is not greener on the other side. There are just as many piles of crap on the other side of the fence as there are on your side. That is the bastardization of the American dream. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Too many people think I want to be happy…and don’t want to wait for it. So they take a short cut. That short cut is a lie from the pit of Hell. Oh you might have some people out there that claim they are happier from their divorce…but I don’t think I would believe them. Divorce is absolutely devastating. That is probably one of the reasons why Im railing so hard against it. I hate divorce and I see why God hates it as well. Its absolutely devastating to everyone. Like drugs..maybe we need to create a educational program targeted towards the youth…like the “Just Say No” program. It also would be an interesting study to find out the percentage of divorces that come from a previously divorced household. I have a feeling that children such as myself that have a two parent family that stays together their children have a much lower percentage of divorce than a child that comes from a divorced home. I think divorce might be a generational curse, like alcohol, drugs, abuse, or other generational curses. It would be an interesting study. In the meantime…Im trying to do what God did with Joseph, “What the devil meant for evil God will turn for good.” If some good could come out of my divorce and my sharing about it…that would make me very satisfied. God is faithful…and God is in control.
The Difference a week makes
(Sorry forgot to post this last night)
What a difference a week makes. We delivered all three projects and now there is just a sense of calm in the office. For the past three months I’ve been totally focused on writing and producing and haven’t had much of a chance to do all the other things in the company. Now I find myself being incredibly unproductive. It seems the busier I am the more efficient I am. When I have tons to do, I am completely focused and don’t waste much time. Meanwhile the opposite is also true, when I have very little to do, I hardly get anything done. I wish I could find a happy medium. Now I have to get motivated and get kicking on the next major project. I keep getting an abundance of inquiries for the acting class. There is a great demand for that, so Im thinking of starting that up again.
Nader and I have an important meeting tomorrow at the largest company in Bahrain. The job is potentially massive. Now the question is, is it too big for us? I absolutely think not. I think it’s a golden opportunity to expand the company.
I am so looking forward to my little mini-vacation in 9 days. I have really worked hard over here. I actually am looking forward to the flight if you can believe that. Im on a system now, where I can upgrade about every flight. So I get a one way upgrade for each round trip. Now that Im a frequent flier gold, I should be earning even more. It makes the trip all the better. Im very fortunate I’ve been able to fly back to the U.S. three times this past year. I hope I can continue in that trend.
I feel like December is building into a special month. Please continue to keep me in your prayers. I need to move out of apartment soon. Im simply paying too much. Originally I wanted to get a three bedroom so my kids could have a room of their own when they were to visit. But they don’t want to visit now, so all this space was kind of for nothing. I have enjoyed this flat, as its very very nice. Its been a good place to hold various parties, meetings, and the Monday group. But I think its time to move on. I would love to find a roommate as I tend to enjoy them.
That’s all for now. Please continue to keep me and my children in your prayers.
What a difference a week makes. We delivered all three projects and now there is just a sense of calm in the office. For the past three months I’ve been totally focused on writing and producing and haven’t had much of a chance to do all the other things in the company. Now I find myself being incredibly unproductive. It seems the busier I am the more efficient I am. When I have tons to do, I am completely focused and don’t waste much time. Meanwhile the opposite is also true, when I have very little to do, I hardly get anything done. I wish I could find a happy medium. Now I have to get motivated and get kicking on the next major project. I keep getting an abundance of inquiries for the acting class. There is a great demand for that, so Im thinking of starting that up again.
Nader and I have an important meeting tomorrow at the largest company in Bahrain. The job is potentially massive. Now the question is, is it too big for us? I absolutely think not. I think it’s a golden opportunity to expand the company.
I am so looking forward to my little mini-vacation in 9 days. I have really worked hard over here. I actually am looking forward to the flight if you can believe that. Im on a system now, where I can upgrade about every flight. So I get a one way upgrade for each round trip. Now that Im a frequent flier gold, I should be earning even more. It makes the trip all the better. Im very fortunate I’ve been able to fly back to the U.S. three times this past year. I hope I can continue in that trend.
I feel like December is building into a special month. Please continue to keep me in your prayers. I need to move out of apartment soon. Im simply paying too much. Originally I wanted to get a three bedroom so my kids could have a room of their own when they were to visit. But they don’t want to visit now, so all this space was kind of for nothing. I have enjoyed this flat, as its very very nice. Its been a good place to hold various parties, meetings, and the Monday group. But I think its time to move on. I would love to find a roommate as I tend to enjoy them.
That’s all for now. Please continue to keep me and my children in your prayers.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Completion
It was a great day today. I felt like I had all my peace and joy back. What that brought with it was an abundance of hope. Did anything happen to give me that hope? Not really…Its just faith that God will do what he promised that he’d do. My life at this point can go in a number of different directions. Im totally at peace with every direction that it can go. Im not saying that my time in Bahrain is coming to an end just yet, but to reiterate that my life is totally up to Christ. I put the sail up, and he’s going to take me wherever His wind might blow. It was rather relaxing at the office today. I got all my projects completed, with nothing else to do on them. It was a great sigh of relief. It was actually pretty ironic. These two major projects we were trying to complete by the opening ceremony for this gigantic shipping port. Everything made it before the deadline, so we did our part. So all was set, except the King’s uncle died this morning. Everything got postponed. The nation will go into mourning for 2 or 3 days. On Radio Bahrain where they normally play Rock music, they are playing Arabic calls to prayer…or at least it sounds like a call to prayer, Its in Arabic so I have no idea what it is. Its probably a prayer of sorrow or something.
So all that rushing around…was it for nothing? Not really. I think if everyone knew they had more time on the deadline, they’d figure out something else to change. At least its all over and done with now. I can go back to being a GM. It was nice though having a nice, slow, stress-free afternoon. I really needed that.
I just remember feeling so filled with hope, peace and joy all day today. I was kind of on a high for the first nine months that I was here…then hit the rough spot. Now I feel like Im back on top of the world. Please keep in mind things are still very tenuous for me at work, but I know that God will make a way when there seems like no other way. He has done it countless of times in my life. Maybe that is one of the reasons why I write this blog so I’ll have a record of the things that he is doing in my life.
We had a positive living group tonight at the flat. We only had two others show up, so there were three of us total. Sometimes there are three sometimes 10. We have a different group almost every week. Its not my job to bring these people Im just making it available. By the way…if you live in Bahrain and would ever like to drop by, we have these meetings every Monday night at 7. I buy everyone dinner and then we watch a Joel Osteen video and talk and philosophize about it. Its fun, as we have Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Atheists all talking about their faith and what they believe. I would love to have you come, just drop me an email and I’ll get you the specifics…rickbeeman@mac.com. I really can’t get involved with the numbers thing with my group. That is just pride. Im just making myself available for God to use however he sees fit. If he wants to move me across the world to affect the life of one person…I’d be happy with that. Nothing parallels my activity like the parable of the lost sheep. Where Jesus left the 99 to save 1. I believe He loves using his people to save that one sheep. While 1 is certainly enough, I still feel an incredible calling in my life to reach tens of thousands. I think its going to happen through my efforts in the media. Its really my calling. I think Im on such a high because Im going to see my kids. I do miss them so. Thank you again for your prayers…they are working.
So all that rushing around…was it for nothing? Not really. I think if everyone knew they had more time on the deadline, they’d figure out something else to change. At least its all over and done with now. I can go back to being a GM. It was nice though having a nice, slow, stress-free afternoon. I really needed that.
I just remember feeling so filled with hope, peace and joy all day today. I was kind of on a high for the first nine months that I was here…then hit the rough spot. Now I feel like Im back on top of the world. Please keep in mind things are still very tenuous for me at work, but I know that God will make a way when there seems like no other way. He has done it countless of times in my life. Maybe that is one of the reasons why I write this blog so I’ll have a record of the things that he is doing in my life.
We had a positive living group tonight at the flat. We only had two others show up, so there were three of us total. Sometimes there are three sometimes 10. We have a different group almost every week. Its not my job to bring these people Im just making it available. By the way…if you live in Bahrain and would ever like to drop by, we have these meetings every Monday night at 7. I buy everyone dinner and then we watch a Joel Osteen video and talk and philosophize about it. Its fun, as we have Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Atheists all talking about their faith and what they believe. I would love to have you come, just drop me an email and I’ll get you the specifics…rickbeeman@mac.com. I really can’t get involved with the numbers thing with my group. That is just pride. Im just making myself available for God to use however he sees fit. If he wants to move me across the world to affect the life of one person…I’d be happy with that. Nothing parallels my activity like the parable of the lost sheep. Where Jesus left the 99 to save 1. I believe He loves using his people to save that one sheep. While 1 is certainly enough, I still feel an incredible calling in my life to reach tens of thousands. I think its going to happen through my efforts in the media. Its really my calling. I think Im on such a high because Im going to see my kids. I do miss them so. Thank you again for your prayers…they are working.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Broadcast on Bahrain TV
Well I had a very good day today. Most of the last minute preparations are done for the big project on the 11th so a lot of the pressure is off. But it is a bit frustrating at work still. As GM Im responsible for everything so if something is not up to par…or the perceived par in some cases, I take the fall. I just want to say…I wrote-produced-directed (co-edited) three shows in three months…there is only so much one person can do. Im the only producer on staff so a lot of it does fall into my hands. Now part of the challenge Im facing is learning how to do business in this culture. I think I finally got it. Whew. Im pretty good at learning from our mistakes. Oh, I also got some news. The ministry is having our documentary on the Making of the Shipping Port broadcast on Bahrain TV. So they must have a certain measure of pride in it for a national broadcast. That made me feel pretty good.
We had a great meeting with one of the largest companies in Bahrain today. They want us to do a very big big big project. The question is, is it too big. We’ll have to decide that in the next couple of days, but still its nice to see all the potential.
We delivered the first batch of 1000 dvd’s to client/project #3 today. That was a load of my back. Im very proud of the work that we accomplished. Now we just have to wait to get the duplications back for project #2 and we’ll almost be complete. I can go back now and be the “general” in manager again and pay closer attention to the details which I didn’t have time to focus on the last three months.
We had quiz night tonight. There were only three of us. You are supposed to only have teams of 6 but a lot of people cheat, like this one table had 20. I do like the competition anyway. So even with three, we still won 2 of the 5 rounds. It shocked us really. So that left me on a high. Now Im on an even bigger high. I blogged last week that I was really upset and heartbroken when my youngest son decided to go to a hockey game the weekend I was coming to visit. Well he called me to tell me the plans changed, now I get to see him again. Im so happy about that. So prayers must work…so please keep them coming. I am so excited about going back to the U.S. in two weeks. Im only going to be there for 10 days…but Im so looking forward to seeing my boys (hopefully my daughter too). My parents are flying out too, so we’ll together as a family again. I sure do miss that. Bahrain is great, but my heart is with my kids.
We had a great meeting with one of the largest companies in Bahrain today. They want us to do a very big big big project. The question is, is it too big. We’ll have to decide that in the next couple of days, but still its nice to see all the potential.
We delivered the first batch of 1000 dvd’s to client/project #3 today. That was a load of my back. Im very proud of the work that we accomplished. Now we just have to wait to get the duplications back for project #2 and we’ll almost be complete. I can go back now and be the “general” in manager again and pay closer attention to the details which I didn’t have time to focus on the last three months.
We had quiz night tonight. There were only three of us. You are supposed to only have teams of 6 but a lot of people cheat, like this one table had 20. I do like the competition anyway. So even with three, we still won 2 of the 5 rounds. It shocked us really. So that left me on a high. Now Im on an even bigger high. I blogged last week that I was really upset and heartbroken when my youngest son decided to go to a hockey game the weekend I was coming to visit. Well he called me to tell me the plans changed, now I get to see him again. Im so happy about that. So prayers must work…so please keep them coming. I am so excited about going back to the U.S. in two weeks. Im only going to be there for 10 days…but Im so looking forward to seeing my boys (hopefully my daughter too). My parents are flying out too, so we’ll together as a family again. I sure do miss that. Bahrain is great, but my heart is with my kids.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
A fabulous dinner party
What an up and down day. I slept in because I was talking to Ms. Florida til late. I woke up to play Russ at racquetball on the base. I think its becoming our Saturday routine. I enjoy playing racquetball but it sure messes up my squash game. Its two completely different games though they look similar. I think I enjoy squash more. But my squash partner Darren is on a missions trip in India for three weeks. I haven’t exercised other than kayaking for two weeks. So when I played Russ today I became really winded. It was a great workout. While I was at lunch I came into a firestorm. Client #2 waited til the last minute to make changes and the premiere of the big project is only four days away. So there was a lot of scrambling. But I think we’re going to get it done. This is quite a prestigious opportunity for us. I think I finally figured out how to do business with Arabs. It’s a totally different mentality than the west. I wasn’t prepared for it, and a lot of our clients have taken advantage of our generosity. So hopefully there’s still time to implement the learning from our mistakes. So I had to be the middle man between calls from the client and our staff. I was getting information third hand so Im sure there were lots of things lost in the translation. But I think we finally got it figured out. I was planning on taking a long nap today, but that got cancelled with all the back and forth phone calls. It’s tough working on an Arab project. Because I don’t know Arabic I have to rely upon others, that is frustrating especially when they let you down. I don’t get stressed often but when things are out of moy immediate control, Im more likely to experience stress. I told Russ today, the past six weeks have been difficult, but Im through the most trying part. I still have the same pressure or more at work, but the difference is I have absolute peace and joy in the midst of the storm. For some reason, I think God removed his had of emotional protection when I was going through the tough six weeks. I believe it was a test. I failed part one but I really think I came through in the last four weeks. I don’t mind going through trials as long as the peace of God doesn’t leave my side. It true what Paul advocated, the Joy of the Lord is my strength. God has been revealing some amazing things to me about what is soon to pass. I really can’t reveal those things yet, but as soon as they happen, I’ll be sure to let you know.
I got invited to a wonderful dinner party tonight at my dear friend the Dutch Girl’s flat. She lives in Amwaj, the floating city. Her flat was absolutely breathtaking, right on the water. This was a dinner party for about 10 of us. It’s the kind of dinner party that you see in the movies. It was very high class. The food that she and her roommate prepared was absolutely fabulous. It had been awhile since I had a home cooked meal, and I was so happy to be there. I met some new friends in a very cultured setting. What an amazing experience I had.
I am so excited about going back to the U.S. in two weeks. I have a special surprise Im planning and I’ll be sure to let you know when it happens. I can’t reveal it yet.
Please keep your prayers coming. They are certainly working.
I got invited to a wonderful dinner party tonight at my dear friend the Dutch Girl’s flat. She lives in Amwaj, the floating city. Her flat was absolutely breathtaking, right on the water. This was a dinner party for about 10 of us. It’s the kind of dinner party that you see in the movies. It was very high class. The food that she and her roommate prepared was absolutely fabulous. It had been awhile since I had a home cooked meal, and I was so happy to be there. I met some new friends in a very cultured setting. What an amazing experience I had.
I am so excited about going back to the U.S. in two weeks. I have a special surprise Im planning and I’ll be sure to let you know when it happens. I can’t reveal it yet.
Please keep your prayers coming. They are certainly working.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Choosing to stay in
What a nice day it has been. It has been totally relaxing, just what a weekend day should be. After going out last night, I wound up chatting with Ms. Florida til real late. So I got into bed way late too. I had to get up for church. Im glad I went. I saw the two new basketball coaches there. After church we all went out. It was nice to have a meal with two passionate followers of Christ. My friend Wayne said it best…Show me who your friends are, and I’ll show you what your destiny is. So I try to surround myself with stronger people. Im also trying to surround myself with my comedians, but for some reason, Im just not getting any funnier.
So I got all excited and rushed home so looking forward to my Friday afternoon nap. I had been looking forward to this nap all week. So I threw myself on the couch and was out for all of 30 minutes. 30 minutes? It seemed like I was gypped. But no matter it just gave me more time out on the kayak. The water is getting colder now, but It’s still bearable to ride since Im getting such a workout. The water was especially choppy today. I almost capsized a couple of times with rogue waves. With the sweat and the water coming over me, I was completely drenched almost the entire ride.
I came back and went to Fuddrucker’s for dinner again. I was invited out to a club, Aqua Fuego, where we do our Funniest Person in Bahrain contest. They were doing their 1st anniversary party tonight. Sidd, the owner who is a good friend, really wanted me to come out. I went to a pub last night, and that counts as a club. I really don’t like to do a club more than once a month now. They just annoy me. Its just a bunch of people either standing around (me) or dancing (not me). Most of the time they are inebriated so even if you do have an interesting conversation with them, chances are they won’t remember it by the next morning. So I skipped it tonight and Im so glad I did. I just had a relaxing night all the way through. I got two proposals done and sent away to Bahrain TV. I got word from client #2 that we have to change two words in the show and then it will be considered complete. Finally. This is a very good thing.
I have a huge appointment on Sunday with something that could turn out to be a two year project. Please say a prayer for me. I head back to the U.S. for 10 days at the end of November. Im really excited about spending Thanksgiving with the kids. Im not sure how much I’ll be able to see of them, but I’ll cherish each moment I do have with them. Don’t count on what you don’t have…count on what you have. Im planning this trip around Eid Al Hatha, which is a three day muslim holiday. This way I’ll only have to take four days off of work and I’ll get a 10 day vacation out of it. Im actually looking forward to the long flight home. This is my third trip back to the U.S. this year. With this trip, I’ll be earning the Gold level of frequent flier on Emirates Airlines, which is the highest. Im really excited about that because it means I’ll be able to upgrade to business class much easier as it is. As it stands now, I can fly out economy and use my points to upgrade on the return to Business. As it is, I just can justify using money to buy a business class ticket. I cope with this because I sit in business and think Im making $150/hour just sitting here. That makes it much easier to take.
So I got all excited and rushed home so looking forward to my Friday afternoon nap. I had been looking forward to this nap all week. So I threw myself on the couch and was out for all of 30 minutes. 30 minutes? It seemed like I was gypped. But no matter it just gave me more time out on the kayak. The water is getting colder now, but It’s still bearable to ride since Im getting such a workout. The water was especially choppy today. I almost capsized a couple of times with rogue waves. With the sweat and the water coming over me, I was completely drenched almost the entire ride.
I came back and went to Fuddrucker’s for dinner again. I was invited out to a club, Aqua Fuego, where we do our Funniest Person in Bahrain contest. They were doing their 1st anniversary party tonight. Sidd, the owner who is a good friend, really wanted me to come out. I went to a pub last night, and that counts as a club. I really don’t like to do a club more than once a month now. They just annoy me. Its just a bunch of people either standing around (me) or dancing (not me). Most of the time they are inebriated so even if you do have an interesting conversation with them, chances are they won’t remember it by the next morning. So I skipped it tonight and Im so glad I did. I just had a relaxing night all the way through. I got two proposals done and sent away to Bahrain TV. I got word from client #2 that we have to change two words in the show and then it will be considered complete. Finally. This is a very good thing.
I have a huge appointment on Sunday with something that could turn out to be a two year project. Please say a prayer for me. I head back to the U.S. for 10 days at the end of November. Im really excited about spending Thanksgiving with the kids. Im not sure how much I’ll be able to see of them, but I’ll cherish each moment I do have with them. Don’t count on what you don’t have…count on what you have. Im planning this trip around Eid Al Hatha, which is a three day muslim holiday. This way I’ll only have to take four days off of work and I’ll get a 10 day vacation out of it. Im actually looking forward to the long flight home. This is my third trip back to the U.S. this year. With this trip, I’ll be earning the Gold level of frequent flier on Emirates Airlines, which is the highest. Im really excited about that because it means I’ll be able to upgrade to business class much easier as it is. As it stands now, I can fly out economy and use my points to upgrade on the return to Business. As it is, I just can justify using money to buy a business class ticket. I cope with this because I sit in business and think Im making $150/hour just sitting here. That makes it much easier to take.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Birthday wishes from around the world
I am so glad it the weekend for me. It was a very stress filled week. There is just a different dynamic in the office with all the financial pressure we are going through. But even with all the pressure I still have an amazing peace. That is really empowering. Everything is coming to a head with the opening ceremony of the Shipping port next week. Because the King is coming there are a lot of detailed preparations to be done. I thought I was done with the deadlines, but no. There are still changes to be made. These people are sure waiting to the last minute to be giving me more changes. I think come next week, I’ll be able to breathe a big sigh of relief when it is all finally over and done with. It was my son’s birthday yesterday. I tried calling 4 or 5 times but couldn’t get through. Its very frustrating. Since his birthday fell on our improv night, I had my crew improvise a scene about preparing for Max’s birthday. They I had them lead the crowd in a song of Happy Birthday. I recorded it so I could send it to him. I think it will make him feel pretty special. He’s a great kid. I do miss him so. Im going to be back there in two weeks, so I’ll be able to see him then. Here is the link to the skit if you want to see it: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=202233152138&oid=87840463020
Feel free to watch the other skits or browse through my homepage if you like. If you read this and are on facebook, also feel free to add me as a friend.
It was a very tough day at work today. I keep wondering how long these tough days are going to last. I had a bout a year of loving my job but lately it feels like work. Im still very good at what I do. But I just need a break. I don’t think I’ve been sleeping as much I should. Its starting to take it toll. Im so out of routine, and I need routine especially with the exercise part. The strangest thing happened. I was sitting with the client and we were making a bunch of changes to a video that was being cut down from 12 minutes to 7 minutes. I was making so many intricate 15 step changes that I just got confused right in the midst of it. Its like playing a game of chess and you are ten moves out in your head then you just go blank. So I went blank for about five minutes, that is embarrassing when you are with a client. But eventually we got back on track. I have been just expending so much mental energy at work lately. It has felt like a job…finally. That’s why Im so glad the weekend is here, yet I do have to work a lot this weekend.
I was invited out to a comedy show at the Irish Pub tonight. Im really becoming quite good friends with Tariq, Muneer, and Nabs, three of my actors for our Funniest Person Contest. Tariq won last night. So we wanted to check out these two professional comics from the UK. Their stand up routines were OK…but their improv was only adequate. At the end of their set, I was thinking, is that all? I got really excited after that. Our show is head and shoulders above theirs…and they are good professional comics from London. It has less to do with their talent and more to do with ours. I did a quick straw poll and I asked everyone to be honest and they all preferred our show to theirs. That made me feel great.
Feel free to watch the other skits or browse through my homepage if you like. If you read this and are on facebook, also feel free to add me as a friend.
It was a very tough day at work today. I keep wondering how long these tough days are going to last. I had a bout a year of loving my job but lately it feels like work. Im still very good at what I do. But I just need a break. I don’t think I’ve been sleeping as much I should. Its starting to take it toll. Im so out of routine, and I need routine especially with the exercise part. The strangest thing happened. I was sitting with the client and we were making a bunch of changes to a video that was being cut down from 12 minutes to 7 minutes. I was making so many intricate 15 step changes that I just got confused right in the midst of it. Its like playing a game of chess and you are ten moves out in your head then you just go blank. So I went blank for about five minutes, that is embarrassing when you are with a client. But eventually we got back on track. I have been just expending so much mental energy at work lately. It has felt like a job…finally. That’s why Im so glad the weekend is here, yet I do have to work a lot this weekend.
I was invited out to a comedy show at the Irish Pub tonight. Im really becoming quite good friends with Tariq, Muneer, and Nabs, three of my actors for our Funniest Person Contest. Tariq won last night. So we wanted to check out these two professional comics from the UK. Their stand up routines were OK…but their improv was only adequate. At the end of their set, I was thinking, is that all? I got really excited after that. Our show is head and shoulders above theirs…and they are good professional comics from London. It has less to do with their talent and more to do with ours. I did a quick straw poll and I asked everyone to be honest and they all preferred our show to theirs. That made me feel great.
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