The question is, will you find the story of the rolled oats interesting?

We do get quite the sunrises here!

Though many people may find it surprising, I actually don't find myself all that interesting. And posting details about the minutiae of my life, how I'm feeling on a particular day, whether I've actually done the laundry, or all the things I'm currently putting off, has always seemed like a digital plea for attention, so I try to avoid writing about the every day because Facebookitis takes up enough of people's time already. I want to keep people informed, but I'd also like these ramblings to be at least a little bit engaging. I could say that I haven't made an entry because I've been so busy and discombobulated with end of semester loose ends. That would not be true. I've actually been avoiding the blog because I haven't felt like I've had anything really interesting to write about. If wouldn't read it, why would I expect anyone else to want to read it. That would be rather narcissistic, even for me.

There needs to be something interesting happening in one's life, or one needs to find a way to make the tedious interesting (which can be an exhausting prospect). I genuinely believed that life in Abu Dhabi would be one adventure after another, but I just haven't felt very interesting of late until I noticed the stockpile of Quaker Rolled Oats gathering along the tops of our kitchen cupboards.

We live in a good sized apartment, but it is not an apartment conducive to food storage (the rats and cockroaches also tend to discourage one from keeping large quantities of perishable items on the premises). However, Julie has become preoccupied with acquiring large cylinders of Quaker Rolled Oats from a nearby grocery store. Already, you may be starting to ask yourself, How much do those Franks enjoy their rolled oats? It is true that rolled oats have been a staple of our diet since before coming to Abu Dhabi, but in the first four months that we were here, nary a rolled oat could be found, and, trust me, we looked.

To understand the life of the consumer in Abu Dhabi, you need to think of the last time you were in Costco and, while there, perhaps you saw a really good deal on a bulk bag of shredded coconut. You know that the bag will probably last you six months of macaroon madness, but at the end of that six months you have no guarantee of whether or not they'll have that coconut in stock at the end of six months, so you buy two, just in case. That's life here in a nutshell. It feels like you can get anything you want, but if you find something you really like (and it'll keep), you'd better stock up.

As for the state of the family in general, we've all been reading a lot, but listing the books I've been reading feels a little showy (or in the case of a few recent titles, a little embarrassing), and we've been watching a few movies, but if you're looking for something to watch, there are a lot websites on this here Internet that can help you choose. Obviously, if people have questions or interests about our lives, we're more than happy to answer them. Just post them in the comments section.

I guess if I could sum up my governing philosophy for this website, it would be thus: Posts will attempt to be interesting and engaging. Tedium available upon request.

People look happy, right?

Tis the Season, I guess

Another week. As I wracked my brain trying to figure out what actually happened this week, I was drawing a complete blank, and then it occurred to me that Christmas was last Saturday. How could I have missed Christmas you might ask. Well, it turns out that it wasn't that hard even in the land of the world's most expensive Christmas tree. There was something relaxing about it being just like every other day, but there was a bit of loss as well. I've celebrated Christmas in the desert before, so I used to the warmth and the faded browns, but I've never celebrated it somewhere that it's not celebrated. Now, Christmas a holiday that's marketed here as well as its marketed anywhere--there are decorations in the shops and Christmas music playing over the mall speakers, and then there's the presence of all those Christmas trees. But there's a big difference between selling something and celebrating it. After presents and Cinnamon roles, there really wasn't much on the agenda. Liam and I decided to go watch Tron (very cool looking without a hint of depth). Walking down the street, I had to keep reminding myself that it was actually Christmas. People were going about their business like it was any other day, and I guess I was too.Next year, it'll be that much more difficult to conserve that spirit of the holidays, so I guess it'll be up to us to create that feeling if we really want it, but I don't know if having to take more personal responsibility for Christmas spirit is a bad thing.






James got a new star wars cartoon for Christmas.