Happy Thanksgiving!

As we reflect on the true meaning of today, The Garcias in the Desert would like to express our gratitude to God for all the WONDERFUL blessings He has continued to bestow upon our family. To our family and friends back in the States, we will think of you even more often today, and will miss you like crazy. And, as we prepare for our Thanksgiving Day meal here in Doha, we anxiously await the arrival of 12 of Doha's servicemen and servicewomen who will be gracing us with their presence at our compound this evening. Hence, we thought we would share the website below with you, as a show of gratitude and as a small reminder of what today is truly all about! ENJOY - And pull out those tissues!! ;) HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERY ONE! AND GO, COWBOYS!!!!! http://www.cpmsglife.org/tg/td1.html

BAYTOWN RSS - C/O '82

No, it's not their 20th reunion or even their 30th, yet! But it was a special type of reunion very few EVER get to have! Read on.....

One very special night, while visiting with some of our favorite friends at their home, us ladies decided to take a walk down the road to visit with yet some other friends. Roland and our host had decided they would stay back and join us a bit later. While mingling with the other families there, I met the wife of one guy in particular whom was just interesting enough to me to get me on the phone with my husband almost immediately!!!

The telephone conversation between my HUSBAND and I went like this:

"Hi, honey! How's it going?"

GREAT!

"Guess what?"

WHAT'S UP?

"There's a guy down here that I just met who says he graduated from Baytown Sterling."

HUH...REALLY?

"Yeah! And, get this, he says he's 44 years old, so I'm thinking you might even know who he is."

WELL, WHAT'S HIS NAME?

"Oh, I don't know if I should tell you. Why don't you just come on down here and see for yourself. You MIGHT not even know him."

WHO IS IT? TELL ME!

-click-

I did know, but was not about to give up the name as I was just beside myself with curiosity as to just what might happen next. Well, not even a minute later, Roland comes walking down the road with his friend (reinforcement, I'm sure). He lands right in front of this new guy.

The conversation between the two of them went like this:

"Hi, James (last name)."

ROLAND GARCIA.

-pause-

"Do I know you?"

YOU MEAN YOU DON'T REMEMBER ME?

(Obviously Roland had already recognized him and awaiting his reply.)

- a longer pause and a deeper glance...and, then -

"Spit??!!"

YES!!! (Spit was Roland's nickname in high school.)

Then came a great big hug and the biggest grins you have ever seen on two grown men who were transforming back into two fun-loving high school kids. Turns out, these two were "running buddies" back in the day. Roland remembers James' mom cooking for them sometimes when Roland would be over to visit. They, also, had more than a few wild nights cruisin' the streets of Texas Avenue and Highway 146!! Today, they are each married to a younger woman (lucky dogs), each have a daughter attending ASD, and both work for a company in the petrochemical field, all in DOHA * freaking * QATAR!

UNBELIEVABLE?!?! YES, to say the least!!

To this day, we still can hardly believe this happened. It's stuff you see only in movies or read about in books. Nonetheless, it happened to them, and a new friendship in Doha has emerged. "THANK YOU GOD FOR THE MIRACLES IN LIFE THAT MAKE IT SWEETER."

This was them, then:

...... And, this is them, now!

(...Here's a song from "back in the day"!)

Happy Halloween, Vatos Locos!

OK, let me explain the title of this post. Halloween for us has always been about the KIDS having a good time, dressing up as their favorite superhero or idol. Well, they weren't the only ones dressing up and having a good time this year, baby! This was OUR year to cut loose and enjoy, as well.

The Doha Players hosted an adult Halloween costume party at Doha's InterContinental Hotel. Back in June, our friends emailed us from Doha asking if we wanted to join them at this BALL. The theme was Gangsters and Molls, which sounded totally interesting to us so we told them to sign us up!! Originally, we thought about dressing up in zoot suits and flapper dresses with the big feather, fishnet stockings, and fancy boas. But our host became very persuasive about the idea that we should dress up a little different, and stand out from the crowd. And, oh my, our mission was DEFINITELY ACCOMPLISHED.

She suggested we dress up instead as Vatos Locos and Cholas. Now, yes, Rolando and I are both from Southeast Texas and, just like any other South Texan out there, we have seen our share of Vatos Locos and Cholas to last us a lifetime. And even though the thought of children growing up exposed to this type of violent lifestyle is a nightmare for us, we did as our friend requested and complied. This is where it gets good. As the three of us couples walked in and made our way through the crowded lobby area, we quickly realized 2 things: 1. not a single person was dressed the way we were (YAY!), and 2. ALL eyes were on us!! It could have been the worst thing ever, but as the minutes passed, the glances turned into smiles, followed by head nodding; and eventually, a lot of them even became "brave enough" to approach us and ask if we, in fact, were from South Texas!! Too funny! The night just got better from that point as we began to steadily win over the crowd and even the hearts of some teachers that opened up and confessed to us that we reminded them so much of students they used to have in their classes whom they were afraid of. That was hilarious!! They told us about how they used to worry so much about them; and how they would later be so proud to hear that most of them succeeded in life, after all. This was sort of like us, as we totally could have bombed with our choice of costume, but ended up having a great time and even having our picture flashed up on the big screen slide show!! I must give credit where credit is due, though. If it had been up to me, we would have worn the boring suit and dress. So we say, "Thank you, Patricia and Brian, for being the inspiration behind it all!!! It was a night we will not soon forget!!!!! The tattoos are proof of it all!" And to Meagan and Kevin 'Ferderline', "You guys were sooo BAD!"