Knowledge Management

General, Jordan, Knowledge Management, Travel

Nine months!!!

October 10, 2019October 10, 2019 Dianne Smith

I am not going to make any lame excuses about why I haven’t written, I’m just going to dive in – promise you lots of photos and hopefully some meaningful commentary about what has been keeping me busy for the last few months!

What I’ve been up to: Once Jillian left in July, I started my new job at USAID (United States Agency for International Development) in the Education and Youth Office as a Project Management Assistant. What does that entail? Well, I am definitely getting to put my Knowledge Management skills to work and I am loving it – not a Microsoft shop so I am figuring out the G-Suite of productivity tools and it hasn’t been too bad. I do miss my SharePoint but I’ve tinkered around and found a pretty slick way of organizing my new teams’ knowledge into a useful knowledge base, at least the start of one. I have gotten to travel around Jordan with my co-workers to a USAID school where I met some pre-1st graders who had not attended kindergarten and were getting a crash course so that they could transition into 1st grade smoothly. They were so cute, as soon as we entered the classroom they jumped up to show us the artwork they had done, the letters they had learned to write and a cute little ‘fishing’ activity that I am sure was building up that hand-eye coordination. Their enthusiasm and smiles were heart-melting! Next trip, a youth center that was about 2 hours away from Amman in Tafilah for a visit to a YouthPower Facilitator event, where groups of youth (aged 15-30 in Jordan, I think “youth” is 15-24 in the US) met to learn how to be agents of change in their communities from YouthPower trained facilitators. We were able to talk to a few of the participants and see them working in groups to solve problems and present their proposed solutions. I attended an International Youth Day event, and participated in the Jordan Economic Forum – by participated I mean I was a member of the audience LOL. I really love the work that I am doing to help Jordan.

We attended a cultural event – the Jerash Festival with a group of friends. You might remember Jerash from my post in January, it is to the north of Amman and has well preserved Roman ruins of the ancient city that included a large amphitheater – we sat in that theater with a whole lotta other people to watch the Circassian dance! I didn’t know much about the Circassian’s until I came home afterward and did some research, their costumes were so interesting and I learned so much going down the Wikipedia rabbit hole https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circassians.

Before the show we walked down the streets and bought a sugary rolled up bread from this lovely woman.

Told ya there were a lot of people! I kept thinking “this cannot be safe” LOL

So, I worked at my new job for two weeks and then went on vacation! After 10 months for Mike and 7 months for me, we returned to the US in August to see our girls, our friends and our families, so I’m including a few favorite shots from the visit(s).

One of my favorite places on earth – where Patchogue River meets the Great South Bay in my hometown of Patchogue, NY

Great South Bay with Fire Island in the distance.

Shortly after returning from our trip home, we turned around and drove (actually our friend drove!) to Jerusalem with three of our friends. We got picked up at 7am and drove about 40 minutes or so to the border crossing where we got out and stood at a couple of windows to have passports looked at and then on to the next border crossing where we waited around, were whisked through security, waited to buy car insurance (yes, you have to buy days worth of car insurance) and then back in the car and onward to our destination. The crossing was a little north of the Dead Sea so it was hot but as we ascended towards Jerusalem the air cooled a little and we arrived just in time for lunch. We went to the famous market – Mahane Yehuda and enjoyed taking in all of the sights and sounds. We settled on Hatch for lunch and it was absolutely perfect; beer, slushie alcohol drinks, omnivore and vegan fare and lots and lots of people watching (and chatting). Our AirBnB was ready for an early check in so we all hiked over and chilled a bit in the AC before we headed back out to the Old City. We spent two FULL days walking and exploring – day one on our own and day two with our friends’ AirBnb host. I’d never really had a desire to go to Jerusalem, could be because I am not a religious person but I have to say – it was an experience of a lifetime and I would love to go back. We had some wonderful meals, some great laughs and walked about 20 miles (with a killer set of stairs up to where we rested in my last photo) all in all, a fabulous trip with stellar travel buddies!

First stop was the Mahane Yehuda Market where we had lunch at Hatch. Lots of people stopped to chat, such as this gentleman talking to Abby and Elly.

I loved our AirBnB, plants everywhere – indoors and out and I was so happy to care for them while we shared space.

Sheesh, someone else loves plants in the building where we stayed!

One of the many interesting faces of Jerusalem. This man told me he lets bees sting him everyday to stimulate his serotonin or dopamine levels – I can’t recall!

Missy was in ‘Bama heaven in the Heart of the Old Town, Shalom Y’All!

Stopped into the Austrian Hospice, sat in the garden and had some delicious fresh beer! It really felt like Vienna, it was bizarre!

Walking through the Souk in the Old City.

We walked all the way up here from all the way down there.

Back home to Amman; back to the pets, work and friends. One of whom had her 4th baby; a little girl after three sons – so a group of ladies showered her and her daughter with gifts. I just loved this dress my friend Kimberly made out of a traditional Bedouin kaffiyeh to present diapers to mama and baby. One of the ladies from work had her father visit and after they toured all of the sites she invited everyone back to Carakale Brewery to show her ol Irish dad a good time. A couple of our gal pals decided they wanted to throw an Oktoberfest party and with that, had them on the hunt for German food, decorations and best of all – German beer. Our hero Kelly scored us some fresh tasty German brews that we all enjoyed along with homemade pretzels, bakery pretzels, german potato salad and brats.

Since Mike and I hadn’t had much chance to get out and explore we decided to head to Jabal al – Weibdeh for breakfast one weekend morning. We wanted to go to a traditional place and stumbled upon Rakwet Arab Cafe just off of Paris Square. It was a stunningly ornate space with delicious Jordanian dishes.

We walked around a bit so I could try to retrace my steps from my evening with Margaret during our Foodie Walk and snapped this photo as we passed by the Petra National Trust. You can see the nighttime version from my post in May. Such a glorious color of stone, I can’t wait to see Petra where this building material was mined from!

As we strolled to Bunni Roasters Coffee to get some coffee for our French Press, we walked by this VW Bug that I’ve walked past before and regretted not taking a photo – so in honor of my very first car that I (kinda) bought on my own (with help from my Oma)… cheers and r.i.p. to my 1974 (dark blue) SuperBeetle. I love seeing all of the old cars around Amman.

Mike had an old buddy come into town with his lovely wife in tow so we had to go out to dinner and thanks to the recommendation of some of his co-workers went to this amazing place., Tal Pine. It felt like Jordanian Swiss Family Robinson – up in the pine treetops, dining on delicious food with great company. I had so much fun meeting someone that I’d been hearing stories about for years and he did not disappoint!

This next section of the blog is dedicated to the animals, my first story is about a light colored pup that showed up one day near the embassy. Mike saw the dog one morning, I saw it the next and then we didn’t see it again until our friend said he saw the dog farther away and darting in and out of traffic. The dog was so pretty we couldn’t imagine that it didn’t belong to someone and needed to be returned. Our friend tried to catch it, and got a couple of photos and we shared it on the Facebook page for the embassy. A bunch of people recognized it but no one knew who the dog belonged to.

As close as we could get to this pupper.

After seeing some kids throwing rocks and cornering the dog, our friend was able to catch it and get it to his place. Other friends provided dog accoutrement and SHE slept for hours in a big dog crate in an air conditioned room. She was filthy and scared but she gradually got used to being inside, and being loved by a guy who didn’t really think he had time for a dog but look at her now…

The gorgeous “local street dog” Miss Lainey!!

She is learning how to be a good girl with her trainer!

She is friends with Finn (and Big Gene and Basha!)

Speaking of friends, Finn and Iris are inseparable. She loves being a part of our family and he could not be more thrilled to have a playmate at the ready. They snuggle and snooze, they battle and bite – they are the ultimate entertainment.

How I’m usually greeted when I come home for lunch.

Finn on his seventh birthday. First time celebrating in Amman!

Finn living his best life… Puppy play date at Kenicke’s house for his birthday! You lean right in, buddy!

What I’ve been listening to: new Opeth in Swedish, and new Lana Del Rey And watching: Fleabag (OMG).

Next up – heading to Aqaba and Wadi Rum this weekend and I’m looking forward to taking photos and having some more things to share about Jordan with you next month, then a trip to Egypt in November! I was asked at work by a lovely lady, Luma if I wanted to do a Language Exchange with her and I’m excited to share more about that, too. Meeting with her three times a week and taking my Arabic language class two times a week – I’ll be fluent in no time haha. I love being able to help her, too. I joined the recently reinvigorated Green Initiative at the Embassy and started a Recycle and Waste Reduction Workgroup in the hopes that we can raise awareness about recycling and reducing our waste both in the embassy and at our residences – a group of 10 signed up and I think we already have plenty of ideas that are easily implementable!

Let me leave you with this happy group of guys, riding in the back of a pickup truck on a Thursday afternoon (the weekend is Friday and Saturday here in Jordan) sitting in traffic and seemingly enjoying themselves (well, maybe not all of them LOL). Look for the joy in life – in this day and age we really need the optimists. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog, bye for now.

Food/Drink, General, Jordan, Knowledge Management, Mindfulness

Six Months!!

July 13, 2019July 13, 2019 Dianne Smith

Our first summer in Jordan; before arriving here I thought that it was going to be stifling hot and that I was going to be expected to wear long pants and long sleeves, but neither have been the case and we have had a pretty typical summer! No, I don’t run errands in shorts and a tank top but only because that is not the culture here for anyone – not just women. The heat isn’t stifling but it is hot with temperatures that vary between the 80s and 100s, the wind is almost always blowing and there isn’t any humidity like in Virginia. One of the pros of our housing assignment being directly behind the embassy is that the pool is in our backyard. Most weekend mornings Mike and I are the first there; where we can get a breakfast sandwich, sit under the umbrella and read(me)/listen to the Howard Stern Show on the Sirius/XM app(Mike) and take a dip(Mike). One of the cons of our housing assignment is that we don’t have an outdoor space other than a small balcony that fits a Weber charcoal grill and a little ledge where I’ve put some planters of geraniums. We are lucky to have friends with a gorgeous rooftop patio where we’ve been invited for dinners and another friend with an outdoor patio on the ground floor that spans the depth of the building where she experimented with her Big Green Egg and made a brisket that was a big hit with the meat eaters. Since we don’t have a spot for Finn to run around we’ve met up with Big Gene, the retired bomb sniffing dog that our friend adopted here in Jordan. He’s a big ol yellow Labrador that you can see getting his run on in the pup parade photo in this post.

Finn shows that he is both an American and an ally.

We had a week off of work at the beginning of June for Eid al Fitr (Festival of Breaking the Fast) which marked the end of the month of Ramadan. Lots of celebration – giving gifts of sweets and Eid baskets to friends and colleagues, it has been wonderful to experience these customs and to be a part of the goodwill.

What I’ve been doing: I had a great opportunity to work for 3 weeks with smart, dedicated people who care about building relationships and helping Jordan’s economy and environment. When I had time I continued to help the HR group to redefine their SharePoint site to make the content better suited for their customers to ‘self serve’. I’ve been pretty impressed with the knowledge management at the State Department – when I need to know something (which has been pretty much constantly LOL) I have been able to find my answer in one of many knowledge bases. Hearing snippets of ‘after action reports’, ‘put that document in both places (me:NO, DON’T!)’ and ‘make this email an official record’ find me missing my days in KM at GEICO, but thankfully knowledge management is everywhere and there are lots of opportunities for me to offer my wisdom in the hopes that it makes work-life easier for others.

I rescued a kitty! It wasn’t in the plans because 1. we have Finn 2. we have Gracie (at home) and 3. we’ve never raised a kitten. But, much like Gracie choosing us – this little girl invited herself to a goodbye party at the embassy outdoor eatery next to the pool one evening. Street cats are in abundance here and even with trap-neuter-release programs – kitten season is real. This little girl was very vocal (begging) and very friendly – she hopped onto my lap and made herself at home.

We went home that night and I kept talking about that little kitty we met, I texted the girls to tell them all about her and they both IMPLORED me to go back and catch her. At that point it was dark, I had nothing to feed her and no plan for her immediate care if I even could find her. I told them if she was there the next day I would do what I could. In the meantime I texted my new friend/veterinarian to ask him if I did catch her, could he come see her the next day – to which he replied “of course, my dear”. At lunchtime (I was home having lunch with Finn) Mike texted me to say the little kitty was back begging at the outdoor eatery so I raced over there to find her lounging under a table and drinking water from a bottle cap and I told her “if you are here when I am done at the gym tonight, you are coming home with me”. My friend gave me a kitty carrier, our neighbor loaned us a litter box, litter and food so I went down there after my workout and she wasn’t there because the eatery was closed. I looked around for her and didn’t see her so before I left I asked a man who sits at the back of the ambassador’s residence if he had seen a little black kitten around and he said “you mean that one over there?” and he pointed to a garden and there she was sitting pretty and I said “oh yes that’s the one” and she came running over to me so I scooped her up and held her at about arms length as she yelled and squirmed the whole way back to our place. I put her in one of the bathrooms – set up her litter box (she used it right away) and her food dishes (she chowed down) and hoped for the best.

Her new home for the next two weeks while she took her deworming and ringworm medicine.

The next day at lunch Dr. Ziyad met me at my apartment and gave her shots, cleaned her ears, squirted on some flea/tick treatment, clipped her sharp claws and determined that she was a good social girl and would make a nice addition to our family – especially since he said “Finn loves everything”. In honor of her home country I named her Black “Iris” of Jordan after the national flower. She and Finn have since met and absolutely love to play together.

Finn’s new sister, Iris. Finally a cat that likes to play with him!

Jillian visited! Perfect timing with work as one job ended and the next one scheduled to start on July 3rd. During that break Jillian crossed the world for the first time alone and she did great; a layover in Vienna and arrived in Amman right on time! This was the longest she’d gone without seeing her dad and her dog, she settled right in.

Loved having my little heart 💕 here to pal around with me!

I’ve missed her gorgeous singing, now she’s teaching herself electric guitar – so talented!!

We had a great time together, checking out restaurants, shops and an overnight trip to the Dead Sea. It was a REALLY hot day with temperatures at 114 degrees so we swam and had drinks by the pool. Then headed indoors to treat ourselves to massages and to watch the beautiful sunset over the mountains. The evening view from our room was stunning!

The next morning we got up early so that Jillian could experience floating in the sea. We saw lots of large salt deposits and watched a group of young guys slather on the mud.

Our descent to the lowest point on earth.

We made it back to Amman in time to be able to check out Souk Jara which is a street market held on Friday mornings just off of Rainbow Street. Soooo many awesome vendors showcasing their artwork, jewelry, clothing… As we were leaving we got to experience (what my internet research revealed is Dabke) a Levantine folk dance group performing to the sounds of a bagpipe and drum!

Just so gorgeous and joyful, I’m really looking forward to going back soon.

One of the sights we hadn’t yet visited in Amman was the Roman Amphitheater which can be seen from the Citadel where we visited with the girls in January.

“The theater, which was built during the reign of Antonius Pius (138-161 CE), is cut into the northern side of a hill that once served as a necropolis—or graveyard. It is very similar in design to the amphitheater at Jerash, and can accommodate 6000 spectators. The theater is still used periodically for sporting and cultural events.” Ref: http://www.just.edu.jo/OptArch2019/Pages/Amman.aspx

We went downtown with a friend who was going to buy a Jordanian dagger at The Dagger man, the visit did not disappoint. We learned that the different shapes of daggers are associated with geographical areas and uses, that daggers and sheaths are made together to match and cannot be used interchangeably even if they are the same size and kind.

Jillian chose a little silver Jordanian/Bedouin dagger and had her name engraved in Arabic جيليان in a beautifully etched sheath. We already know what Amelia wants when she visits next!

We went up a ladder to a little loft area where the fabricating is done! Zaid al-Muhaisin is the Dagger Man.

🖤Black beauty🖤 She’s kookoo! You can see some of her antics on Instagram #*blackirisofjordan* or on my highlighted story *FinnGracieIris*.

Jillian’s last night in Amman we went to The Boulevard, an outdoor shopping and dining area, for Free the Fork ‘s gourmet tacos and sliders then watched as our ice cream was created at Four Winters.

There was also this pretty horse greenery statue! 🌺

Jillian travelled home to the US successfully – back to her apartment, social life and work. I missed her the moment she left my sight but we are super proud of her resilience and independence. Both she and her big sister have amazed us with how well they have managed this time apart from us, 6 months down!

The Embassy of the United States of America looked glorious for Independence Day. We enjoyed seeing the fireworks from our little patio!

Continuing to be mindful of my footprint on the planet; I brought my own bowl to one of my favorite places to walk to dinner – Fish Face – where I get a veggie poke bowl served in a 20oz plastic container. I’ve been reusing them for my painting but realized I only need but so many containers for my supplies. Mike and I had gone to IKEA recently for frames and I picked up two 25oz glass bowls with wooden tops. Well, this week I brought one with me to FishFace and the sushi chef was perfectly happy to fill it with poke goodness.

Even though they did have to take an airplane to get to me which isn’t the best for the environment 😔 I’ve decided to get vegan shoes to replace the shoes I donated before I left the US – they are comfortable and oft complimented so I wanted to share since last year when I checked Zappos for vegan shoes they did not look this good. Search BC Footwear to find retailers near you if you are so inclined.

What I’ve been watching, reading and listening to: we watched season 3 of Stranger Things in about two nights – loved it. Finished Dead to Me – loved it. Started season 2 of Big Little Lies. Re-watching Deadwood in between shows so that we can watch the movie. Jillian brought two books for me to read that I really enjoyed: The Girls by Emma Cline and Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield. Listening to Anima by Thom Yorke (over and over) it is perfect to paint to! My painting is coming along nicely, I hope to dedicate more time during the evening to do more painting instead of waiting until the weekends – which can be just as busy as the workweek. Speaking of work – I applied and interviewed for a different job at the embassy and I was selected! On July 21st I will start work in USAID as Program Management Assistant in Education and Youth. Super excited and thankful that I get a chance to learn something totally new and impactful. Next blog I will let you know what my new role is all about!

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer, thank you for reading! bye for now.

Art, Food/Drink, Jordan, Knowledge Management, Travel

Three Months!

March 30, 2019 Dianne Smith

I have now been a resident of Jordan for three months, time has gone by so quickly and I realized that it has been one month since my last blog post! I have been keeping busy and taking pictures so that I can share with you! Updates on my outstanding items: my house isn’t rented yet but with the coming of spring I anticipate that will resolve soon! My big shipment of our household effects are in the country and awaiting customs sign off so that they can be delivered to me and my job is still pending my clearance which is in the works. So with that admin business out of the way, lets get to the fun stuff…

What I’ve been doing: still exploring and LEARNING! One of the nice things about being at a big embassy like the one here in Amman is all of the people you meet. I have become involved in a few “groups”; vegetarian/vegan diet people, dog/animal lovers, yoga people, moms, work people, volunteers and with each group comes different outings and invitations. We did our first brunch with the work crew at the W hotel. Mike and I had gone there for my birthday and going back with the big group was fun! I snapped a gorgeous shot of the dessert table before it was eaten! This is a great brunch, the food is amazing and the drinks are bottomless!

The W Hotel, Amman. — The desserts were works of art!

We went to visit Carakale Brewery again with a big group of Mike’s work friends to celebrate a birthday and had a great time!

As I mentioned in my last blog, the girls and I had tickets to meet each other in Londontown and I caught this scene as I was packing… Finn started to get a little bit of suitcase anxiety after Mike started traveling a few years ago. His body language says it all… sorry bud – mom needed to visit her human children!

Making it difficult to pack my clothes for London!

Gorgeous view of London from the last row of the plane!

I was so excited to see the girls in London, it had been since January 10th that we’d last seen each other and we were more than ready! I arrived on Tuesday night and booked a hotel close to the airport so that I could go meet them there in the morning. I set my alarm early, checked their flight and found out it had been delayed for three hours out of Dulles which meant more sleep for me but a long day/night for them! Seeing them come through the international arrivals gate at Heathrow was such a great moment, my good traveling girls. They rested a little at the airport before hitting the Underground (where more resting occurred) to Kilburn where our AirBnB was in Northwest London (for more rest!). I was properly rested so I ventured out and took a look around.

Since we had 2 full days to explore we decided to go full on tourist and bought tickets for the Big Bus. We took the local bus from right outside our flat to the city center where we took the Red Line tour (Piccadilly Circus, Big Ben, London Eye, Tower of London, London Bridge, etc…) atop the classic double decker. It was a great experience and we learned a lot from the tour guide. Once back in our neighborhood we walked to the pub – North London Tavern – which had great local Camden Brewery beer on tap AND an awesome vegan selection, which Amelia appreciated! Day two we got a lovely breakfast in the ‘hood and bussed back down into the city where we ventured into Kensington to the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. From the bus I saw this art installation, was intrigued by the concept of “even nothing changes”, took a picture and researched.

The ‘retrospective’ exhibition of the Mexican artist Stefan Brüggemann
entitled Text Pieces (1997 — 2014), consists of twenty-six works in total, drawn
from the extensive corpus of the artist’s works with language from his early
career to the present.

Nothing is impossible, nothing is possible, (even nothing changes)
2003

At the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.

While in Kensington Gardens we came upon an area where parakeets were landing in people’s hands so they could have a bit of seed. So we joined the crowd and the girls had a great experience feeding the birds!

Next up was to visit Brick Lane, a funky area of London that had tons of thrift shops and art – then back to the flat to watch kooky British TV shows and rest up. The following day was our flight out and we had one last place to visit before checking out of the AirBnB and catching the tube to the airport; Abbey Road Studios. I have been a fan of the Beatles for as long as I can remember so it was very special for me!

We signed our names with Love, Love, Love…

We walked across that famous crosswalk, visited the gift shop and then off to the airport. The girls flew out of terminal 2 and I flew out of terminal 3 so we said our goodbyes in the train station and headed off to our respective departure zones.

Back to Amman and back to the grind of the retired life – learning Arabic, teaching English, exploring new neighborhoods, art galleries and restaurants as well as attending a fundraising event and going on my second Ecohike. The weather in Amman has been unseasonably cooler and rainier than past years, it sounds kind of like the weather in Virginia – gorgeous and sunny one day, rainy and cold another. Here is a map that I used in my English class when we talked about seasons, I put a black dot for where I am so that you can see the temperature here is comparable to southern Georgia/northern Florida in the US and since I’m in the northern hemisphere – it’s Spring in Jordan!

During a recent excursion I found some great urban murals while I looked for the cafe where I was to pay for an upcoming Ecohike! I also found a great art gallery that I hope to visit more during my time in Amman.

My arabic isn’t that good yet but I imagine it says FIERCE underneath her! Artist: WizeOne

This one also stopped me in my tracks. Artist: Hamzah Al Salhi
Excerpt below from: Weaver News
The work below by Hamza Al Salhi appears to depict a traditional Bedouin man, a member of one of the local tribes of Jordan. His long braids and head covering reflect the traditions of the nomadic people but are not commonly seen in the urban streets of Amman. Due to the increase of strictly enforced international boundaries and the influx of technology, many Bedouins are without a way of making a traditional living. In the past, Bedouins had the freedom to move to different locations with the seasons in accordance to the needs of their flocks or farming needs. However, in recent years many have moved to more urban places such as Amman to try to earn any kind of living.

This might be a good place for me to post a video of the “visitors” we had to the area behind our apartment recently. Throughout Jordan you see flocks of sheep and goats sometimes with a donkey and often with Canaan dogs and always with one or two shepherds. They come to the green areas (which are aplenty due to the extended rainy season!) so that the animals can eat and rest and then they walk through the streets.

Just some wild animals outside our bedroom window!

My favorite thing to do in Jordan so far has been to participate in the Ecohikes, if you really know me then you know why! Aside from taking care of our planet, I have gotten to meet so many cool people, clocked in some hiking miles, seen amazing views and beautiful landscapes. This past hike had a bonus of eating traditional food made by the women of the Bader area where we hiked west of Amman.

The soup was described as “Mansaf without the meat” so delicious!

English class at CRP is going very well – still maintaining 13-16 students in attendance and we have grown very fond of each person. I love this new installment on the stairs that lead to our classroom and enjoyed helping one of my students, a lady my age, read each step in english before class this week. After class my co-teacher and I poked our heads into the beauty school graduation party and found that two of our students (who weren’t in English class that day) were GRADUATES! I was so proud of them, strong and beautiful women.

Had a nice outing with some of the other English teacher volunteers at the world famous Hashem’s in downtown Amman this week.

Then off to the world famous Habibah Sweets for some kanafeh for dessert!

Speaking of sweet, one of the guards at the Embassy who knows I’m studying and tries to talk to me in arabic had this for me:

That was just the sweetest gesture, they all smile and light up when I try to engage with them in arabic but really – I am just now learning letters, vocabulary words and conjugation. (yuck) I need to learn how to say in arabic “it’s gonna be a while, people!” LOL.

Finally, I was able to put together a group doggie play date this weekend at a new place that has an indoor hall. It felt good to make some plans with new people and get to learn about them as the dogs played – and they played so well together. We have another date set up for next Friday so more pups can join in the fun. Finn REALLY needed to get out of the apartment and have a good tear.

What I’ve been watching: we watched (finished) The OA, The Umbrella Academy, After Life. Started the new seasons of our Bravo shows(shhh). On the plane to and from London I watched Bohemian Rhapsody (liked! it was soooo hard to not sing), Crazy Rich Asians (liked!), Table 19 (This wasn’t bad – I’d never heard of it and it served its purpose of passing the time!)
Next up for travel is a trip to Italy at the end of April – we will be going to Bologna and Rimini with a jaunt to the Republic of San Marino squeezed in there. In the meantime, I need to get back at my fitness, I had a good run going and then I got a bad sore throat for like two days and I was a baby about it and it knocked me off my game. I mean, I DID hike for 6 miles last weekend…
I hope everyone has a great week, thank you so much for reading! bye for now!

Jordan, Knowledge Management, Music

Task list and milestones. Check em off and meet em.

November 29, 2018November 29, 2018 Dianne Smith

It feels like today was two full days. I am a live in the moment kind of person so once I have my moment I move on and put things in my past. I emailed, phone called, texted, facebooked, instagrammed; I TCB’d to put it mildly and I barely remember anything! Thankfully I have a check list that I cross off once I have gotten something done so I have a record of my productivity. Yes, I have my mammogram scheduled and no, the mortgage company didn’t make it out to inspect my roof repairs – but some things are beyond one’s control and don’t get checked off and that is OK. Chunk it out, batch it – if it is in small groupings that you can tackle you will feel so good. Check off the little tasks until you meet your big milestones… I have a lot of tasks til my ‘arrive in Jordan’ milestone but I’m up for it!

What I’m doing: One of the most important things I did today was finding someone to color my hair in Jordan. This post is dedicated to knowledge management – I used many of the KM practices I utilized at work to find things out and get things done today. I am using my knowledge network to figure out all that I can before I arrive in Amman by belonging to a Facebook community of expats and it has helped greatly. “Any brunettes out there that have a colorist they love?” Asking a question last night using natural language got me some results by the time I woke up this morning! I shared what I learned by checking in with my subject matter expert (stylist)here at home who enthusiastically approved of the recommendation I’d gotten. She is going to transfer the knowledge (my color formula) of how I get my glorious color and hopefully there will not be any interruption of service and my roots will be as brown as the day I was born! I practiced knowledge elicitation by asking the property management company a bunch of questions that hopefully they can answer soon and I can make an informed decision and sign a contract to have them in charge of my house and who lives in it while we are gone! I also talked with a company that does pet relocation and am hopeful that they can get Finn (our Boston Terrier) and Gracie (our Graygirl Cat) to our new home in Amman with little fanfare. Gracie is an outside cat, she adopted us so we have done our best to have her live inside but she was raised in the wild and she ‘goes’ outdoors. In Jordan she will be an inside cat only – so tonight after dinner with Amelia – I got Gracie a litter box that Finn was more interested in than she! Not sure what he was expecting to happen, but he sat there in front of it after sniffing it a bunch.

Using some more knowledge management practice I reviewed and followed the documentation; sprinkled in the litter – it is enhanced with an attractant *catnip – and placed it where the subject matter expert (my daughter) advised was the best spot; at the back door where Gracie usually goes out. We shall see, she has to use it because she will not be going outside in Amman unless she is wearing a leash. Tomorrow is chock full of tasks too; mail some records, make a deal on some American Girl doll stuff, and drop off coats to Micah

What I’m watching: just finished watching the latest episode of Riverdale. Love it.

What I’m listening to: I don’t know how many times today I listened to Jupiter 4 by Sharon Van Etten but it was a whole lot and I put it on again after Riverdale was over. I hadn’t listened to her stuff before but Comeback Kid and now Jupiter 4 from her upcoming record have both been awesome! I’m going to listen to it again, it reminds me of being young and wanting to be with Mike every waking moment, I’m glad that soon I will be with him all of the time. I’m listening again. bye for now.