CH-CH-CH-CHANGES!

Dearest Friends,

Wow.  I'd forgotten how different things were the second time John went offshore, compared to what they had been like the previous July.  For one thing, I now had wheels!  I could take myself to the grocery store, or go to the office to check for mail and messages, instead of waiting for someone to bring them to me.  For another, I had a job!  One that I was really good at and found to be quite  stimulating.  Most importantly though, I had friends!

Mr. S, one of the Three Musketeers from our Indo-days, had just moved to Bahrain.  He brought me a brand new camera!

 The first time John left, my only friend had been BD, who was normally very good about stopping by to visit and offering me rides to the stores, but she had just gone back to the states for surgery.  With no phone, no car, no job, no friends, and no hubby, I felt very, very isolated, cut off from the outside world.

Newly single BW brought this lovely auburn-haired beauty over for a visit.  They parted amicably at the end of it.  However, next time he was in Houston, Mr. S gave her a call, and they've been married ever since!

Not so this time.  In fact, if you were to flip through the pages of my little datebook, you might come to the conclusion that I was turning into a regular social butterfly!  The first day after John left was a Friday, our day off.  I spent it much as I did those early days, cleaning out cabinets, reorganizing stuff, and working on various craft and sewing projects.  On Saturday, however, I went to pick up BD after we both got off work.  First we went to the club to play Mah Jong, then we went grocery shopping.  That evening after dinner T&L stopped by for a visit.  Here's how the rest of the week went:
Sunday - Worked 9-12, lunch and work at lending library with H, work 4-7, dinner and visit with P.
Monday - Work 9-12, AWA luncheon with P, N, and BD, shopping at souk, play at P's school
Tuesday - Work 9-12, exercise group at N's
Wednesday - Holiday, luncheon at P's house that didn't end until supper-time!
Thursday - met girls at beach for picnic and sunbathing
Friday - met two other girls at club for brunch

Yep, I'd say things were a whole lot different this time around, wouldn't you?  Miss Becky was definitely coming out of her shell!  I even went so far as to host a dinner party, all by myself, for four of our old friends from Indonesia who had recently been transferred to Bahrain.  No way the old Miss Becky would ever have done that!

 C & F brought a rambunctious toddler with them, whom she had been hugely pregnant with when she hosted my going-away party back in Indonesia.

Needless to say, the time while John was away wasn't dragging quite so painfully slow as it did the first time.  Still, I missed him every bit as much, and I was fairly certain that, for him, each day was longer than the last.