That is the phrase you are greeted with here in Saudi when you have a long, unexcused, absence. So just to pile on a little more pressure on top of the pressure you already have to make up for the time you were away, you better have something good to give them (in the form of news or stories at least).

Please excuse my unexcused absence. This summer has been filled with more ups and downs than a “holiday” has any right to have and the time and mental effort it took me to wade through all of it proved overwhelming. I truly thought I would be popping out 2 or 3 entries a week. Why not? It’s a holiday after all and I imagined laying by the pool all day writing.

I got home a while ago and gave fleeting looks at my lap top because in my head there was and is so much I want to share with you all but thinking about where to start is tough. I can no longer write about my summer in a linear, coherent way because memories do not work that way in my head. They are kind of like a whole bunch of paper clips that are linked together neatly then dumped into a big, gyrating bowl full of many other paper clips. So some come apart, some link up with others, some bend so out of shape you would never imagine they were a paper clip to start with.

But today I am taking a stand. I must write because it has been far too long and if I were you, I would be loosing interest in a blog that hasn’t updated for over a month! So this is my game plane: I will sort my summer out by categories.

So for example:

Travel: Flights, Car rides, Bookings, etc.
Kids: Camp, Activities, Outings, shenanigans.
Food: Restaurants, Cafe’s, Yummy stuff everywhere.

You get the point. It will be filled with even more useful stuff than the HK one (Useful for people who are planning a visit to LA that is) and of course be so irresistibly interesting you will  read and re read it even if you never plan to set foot in LA.

I missed you all. I missed writing. And I missed commenting on all the beautiful blogs I read religiously. I am excited to be here again :)

This summer was filled with a lot of heart breaking events I feel I want to acknowledge. I pray that everyone touched by the sadnesses of this summer will remember their blessing and that they are themselves my blessings. And I thank God for them every day.