Cats and Mom's Birthday

Hi guys,

Well, there are a LOT of stray cats in this country, and I am just not sure what I think about that. On day, I saw one on the back porch, and I barked at it. Then one day mom let me out and there was another one IN MY YARD, so I chased it out of my kingdom. Mom was really happy that it was fast because she says a stray cat will know how to fight and she doesn't want me to get hurt. Sometimes one also hangs out in our garage and meows, and Dad has seen it under the car a few times. Not sure if I just want to chase and play or chase and try to eat. I have an uncle cat but he is just really boring and will never engage with me when I stay with Grandma and Grandpa Nealley.

Anyhow, Mom's birthday was the 23rd, and her and Dad went to this bar called At.mosphere [sic] in the Burj Khalifa, which if you did not know, is the tallest building in the world. It was actually Aunt Martha that told Mom there was a bar in it so she had looked it up when she got here and decided it'd be a good place for a celebration, so she told Dad she wanted to go there for her birthday. They had to have a reservation even though they were going to the lounge part. Mom thinks it is probably because of capacity limits, and also so people do not just come on in to take photos. You take an elevator to the 123rd floor, then you walk down a flight of stairs to the restaurant and lounge on the 122nd floor.

Paid extra for the window table

 First two drinks

View

That island thing in the middle is where we took a walk to and I saw other dogs and was a good ambassador from a previous blog post. 

 Sunset

 The lights starting to turn on

Got a pic of part of the fountain show

Sunset

 

City at night

Later when they came home, that is when Dad frosted the gluten free funfetti cake he baked earlier and then they had some and I was really jealous. 

Dog out,
Woof 

Hanging stuff and new furniture

The other day Mom and Dad said they were going to the beach. As members of the Aviation Professionals Club they get access to beach clubs among other things. They went to the Ritz-Carlton.

 

It was the last day before Dad started on the floor of the control room so they decided to go have a nice day together before he started shift-work again. 

I figured I should update you on the stuff Mom and Dad have bought for the new digs. They have also been hanging things. Mom took the pictures since I do not have opposable thumbs. It is not done yet, but she felt you may be interested in seeing.

 

Corner of the living room where Mom is setting up her trinkets on her purple bookcase that got shipped over in the big box. Note they bought the curtains off the owners, it's a lot of windows and would have been hard.

 

A panoramic shot of the living room that is distorted because Mom is not good with that function, she promises the back wall is flat and not concave. Some wedding photos and their airplane figurine collection are on the TV stand. My toys and bed are over near the window.

 

 View to the backyard, that's my bed again, and also my house that doubles as a side table. 

 

The living room opens into the dining room, David Burton artwork is on the wall. 

 The sidebar with some pictures and bowl and plate from Grandma. 

 Kitchen. Figured it was boring and you didn't need multiple photos. However, this is one of my favorite rooms as I can sometimes steal snacks that fall to the floor.

 

Mom wanted you to see their "Cleared for Takeoff"chalkboard picture and their flag from Grandma. That in there with all the boxes is the Maid's room, which Mom and Dad say will be storage room. She could have shut the door but forgot.

More Dave Burton art, and a locally-made thing Mom bought here on her last trip. It is hand painted tiles, there is a palm tree, Hamsa, a Camel, and an Arabic coffee urn. This is the half bath downstairs.

 Front door, Mom's bird clock, and a David Burton print.

 Our SR-71 print.

 View down from the stairs. DB paintbrush on the left, Roger that down in the living room, Picasso's smile print on the right.

 Dresser and mirror with more things Mom brought. She says that doll is from when she was born. 

My new bed they got me, they shouldn't have. Oh wait, Mom is saying they didn't...

Curtains, they are leaves and are pretty, with a blue sheer underneath. They got them made for a good price. I like to lay out on that balcony. I enjoy viewing my kingdom from above and also relaxing, in fact, here was me last week. My eyes are closed too...

Terrace out front on the second floor.

Here is the front of the house.

 (that is Mom's new car she got a few weeks ago, it's a red Audi S3)

 

And here is a partial view of the yard from that balcony I like so much.

Other things not pictures include a second bedroom with suitcases in it, both of those bathrooms, and the landing area/study upstairs that will probably be where a desk goes. 

In other news, Mom has her residence visa as of this morning. She now is waiting for her ID card, and then once she gets that she can go get her diver's license. Then all her paperwork will be done (Dad's already is).

Dog out.

Visa Run

Guest post: Mom

It's Megan again, Rupert didn't get to go on this adventure so he can't speak to it.

Marcus's visa is provided by his employer and then he can sponsor his spouse. Lots of things go in to being able to sponsor your spouse here, but before you can start the process, the spouse with the visa has to have a tenancy contract signed, and then an Ejari, which is basically a database of registered tenancy constracts, but to register it, you have to have DEWA (Dubai Electricity and Water Authority) set up, to set up DEWA, you have to have the signed lease, blah blah blah. Well, we were just able to register our Ejari on Jan 30. Then there is a guy that works for DANS (department of the government that Marcus works for) who processes the visas for spouses. Basically they are nice and do all the paperwork but we still pay. I entered Dubai on Jan 6, and my tourist visa was only good for 30 days, but the guy went of vacation on the 10 and was not going to get back until Feb 7, so since I was only legal until Feb 4, we had to do something. Dubai does give a 10 day grace period, before you have to start paying overstay fees. It was going to be 800 AED to go to the airport and extend it to a 90 day visa, or we could do a visa run.

So on Friday the 5th, we drove to Oman. 



It should have been about a two hour drive, but we made a few wrong turns when we first left. 

 On the road

Cool UAE flag painted on mountain

 

Mainly the drive is desert, and then some mountains, where there are a lot of quarries. Eventually we got to the border. First you exit the UAE, it was 35 AED each for an exit visa. Then you keep driving a little bit and end up at the building where you go in and get your visa for Oman (US is a country that can get a visa on arrival, no need to apply beforehand). So we filled out the form and went to the window and the guy asked where we were going and Marcus said, just a visa run. So when you say that they stamp your your entry and exit all at the same time. Then when you go back in your car and turn around you don't have to come back into the building and get your exit visa. It was 100 AED total. 

 I went to Oman

 

Then you turn around and go back. The line in the UAE border crossing was longer than the one in Oman. From the time we left our house to getting back in the car at the UAE border was about 3 hours. Then we drove back. 

 

I'm legal again now and we will start the process for my residency visa now that the guy at Marcus's work is back. 

 

Love, 

Megan