What I Miss

As Christmas approaches, and family is far away, it's easy to think about what I miss.  Let me just say that cold weather and snow do not make the list.

It's also been a hard week plus adjusting back to Oman.  Jet lag kicked my tail, and in some ways, my adjustment time here was reset.  It's been a long, emotional time where I wasn't sure I wanted to be here.  I'm getting better now, but my mind went to a dark place while coping with sleep deprivation.  Let's add that I'm also dealing with the expat reality of friends moving away.  I didn't want to deal with this already.

Let's just start with the obvious friends and family.  I obviously miss my family and dear friends.  New friends just grow your circle not replace it.  So let's dig into slightly funnier or unexpected things I miss.  These are in no particular order.

1. Ease of communication.  There are many people I cannot text at all.  Facebook Messenger is okay but glitchy.  Many people in the US don't have WhatsApp.  I can make calls to people, but they can't call me.
2. Chick-fil-A (There is a mall here with a logo that resembles the C of Chick-fil-A.  I can't see it without thinking about Chick-fil-A.)
3. Whataburger
4. No homework for the boys
5. Taco Bueno
6. Braum's
7. Public libraries (though I do utilize our old library's online resources still)
8. Wearing shorts outside
9. Amazon Prime
10. Mail
11. My Mazda CX-5
12. Daylight Savings Time (when it's in effect) (also, I don't miss switching back and forth between them.)
13. My gym
14. Good Tex-Mex food
15. My coworkers and their antics (Below are just the ones I've missed since moving that I could easily find pictures of on FaceBook.)

A manikin hiding behind a curtain.

The payback manikin in another office.

A discarded chandelier making an unwanted appearance.

There is probably more, but 15 seems like a good number to end on.  Most of the list is very superficial.  Most of the list involves food.  Luckily, there's good food here, it's just different.