Texas and The Top

This past week's adventure led me to the great state of Texas, Dallas to be exact. Thanks to my best good friend Drea, I was able to meet up with her cousin Tyler, who lives in the area, and he graciously served as my Dallas tour guide for the two days I was in town. While in Texas I saw the JFK memorial, viewed the area where JFK was assassinated, ate some good ol fashioned pork barbecue (a delicacy after living in a Muslim country), did a little shopping at Wally World (oh how I miss that place), and had a great run outside in shorts and a tank top without feeling condemned (again, it's the little things I miss)!



Dinner At Sonny's BBQ

My trip to Texas was quickly followed by two same day return flights, and now I've been blessed with a full week off, insert choir of angels singing here. Thus far the highlight of my week was finally going to the top of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. I'm becoming quite the discount finder, and last night was no exception. Wednesday night is ladies night at Atmosphere, the club housed on the 123rd floor of the building, so my friend Sara and I were not only given free admission, but also two free drinks! It's always fun to find free ways to enjoy activities that are normally expensive! It was a slightly cloudy day, so the view wasn't quite as great as I was expecting, but none the less it was still an awesome sight.

View From Nearly 2,717 Feet Above The Ground

Sara and I Pretending We're Members Of The Rich And Famous Club

And now a riddle for you.... Who has a scar on her right thumb, is currently still in bed at noon, will be home in ONE month and ONE week from today, and is really, really excited about it????

Give up?

THIS GIRL!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Mama

June 8^th, my mom’s birthday, was a day I had been dreading for quite some time. According to the grief books I have been reading, birthdays, anniversaries, and other special holidays following a loved one’s  kicking of the bucket death can be extremely difficult. So far the experts were spot on with Easter. My feelings during Mother’s Day were indifferent. The good Lord decided to throw me a bone, and I flew over 15 different time zones that day, inadvertently skipping the majority of that stupid holiday.  And yesterday, well it wasn’t so bad after all!

Lavish celebrations for my mom’s birthday were never really a tradition in our family. Throughout the years my dad would sometimes take her out to see a play, us kids, and in more recent years her grandkids, would make her cards covered in glitter and macaroni, my Aunt Nancy would send her flowers, my Grandma Strang gave her cookbooks, and her friends would remember her with calls and cards. Low key birthday were just fine with her. She was never one to make a fuss over herself, and she most certainly was not the diamond demanding kind of lady.

Simple gestures of love were always what my mom appreciated most. So with what would have been her 56th birthday approaching, I knew I wanted to do something in memory of her, something that was just a simple gesture of love.

I contemplated making my mom’s famous butterscotch oatmeal cookies, and giving them away to a poverty stricken taxi drivers, but I feared my random act of kindness might be mistaken as me wanting something more than a car ride. Visions of me being loaded up on the next camel outta Dubai, as the blushing bride to Mr. Pak McPakistan quickly came to my mind. Alas, I (butter) scratched that idea. Pun intended.  

So in the days leading up to her birthday I purposely made one of her favorite soups, White Chile, and froze all the leftover, just like she always did. I bought and burnt her favorite brand of candles, and enjoyed my apartment having the same lavender scent as the after shower body spray she always used. Thankfully, unlike the apartment I share with my Chinese roommate, my mom never smelled like half lavender and half mystery meat cooked in soy sauce.

On the topic of Ethnic food, several nights ago my friend Rajeev and I were having dinner at an authentic Indian restaurant (my first experience of this sort, food was delicious, but perhaps a bit on the spicy side for this Midwesterner), when he told me that the next day he was planning to volunteer at a local school for autistic children, and that I was welcome to join him. Knowing the words “volunteer” and “Gail Schutz” are basically synonyms, I jumped at the opportunity to give of my time, the day before her birthday, in her memory.

My day of volunteering was a really cool experience, but very different than any type of volunteering I had done with schools and other social services in the USA. Unlike the extensive background checks I normally undergo to volunteer, I literally just walked right into the school and was assigned a classroom to assist. Within five minutes of being inside the classroom, the teacher informed Rajeev and me that she was going to escort a child to therapy, and asked that we keep an eye on the remaining students. While I was flattered by her trust, in my puzzled mind I was thinking, “YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW ME!”

After spending several hours assisting children with word comprehension, handwriting exercises, and math worksheets, we bid farewell to the students. I wouldn’t go out on a limb and say I’m the next Mother Theresa, or Gail Schutz for that matter, but I was happy to have volunteered in my mom’s memory, and I knew she would have been so proud.  

Yesterday was the big Kahuna, her actual birthday. I floated in the pool, went for a run, met up with friends later that evening for cocktails, and overall spent a lot of time thinking about my mom. It was a nice birthday.

I’ve always loved birthdays, not just for the cake, ice cream, and presents (although I am a big fan of all those things), but because it represents life. I’m not a genius, I don’t understand the whole purpose of it, but I do know that it’s short and it’s precious. Life is something to be enjoyed and lived vibrantly. My mom got that. In her 55 years she didn’t just make a slight difference on Earth; I think she changed the course of humanity. That may sound a bit dramatic, but, without ever knowing it, she served as such an influential person in so many people’s lives. I truly believe that her legacy of service, generosity, kindness, and love will impact generations to come!

In the card she slipped into my suitcase upon my departure to Dubai, she wrote to me, “There are some people that come and go from a room- from a life- and no one seems to notice one way or another, but not you! Everyone knows when you are present, and there is a black hole when you are gone.”

And as I reflect on her life, on what would have been her 56^th birthday, the only phrase that seems adequate is this, “Ditto, Birthday Girl, ditto!”

Photo Courtesy of Warmowki Photography

Two Years

Two years ago today my silver Corolla was packed from the floor to the roof and everywhere in between. I had just graduated college two weeks prior, and was ready and eager to start off my new life. Pulling out of my parent's driveway, with my best friend in tow, I knew no one in Florida, I had very little knowledge about what my job at Disney would entail, and I most certainly had no idea that the next two years would include meeting such amazing friends, experiencing so many blessings, seeing mind blowingly beautiful places, and dealing with such a devastating loss.  

In the entire span of my lifetime, which I'm hoping is quite long and prosperous, two years is nothing! However, looking back, these two years have been nothing short of eventful. For those of you who haven't been faithfully following Schutz and Scores (shame, shame), here's a few of the highlights. In the past 24 months I ...

 -moved to Orlanda, Florida and had an awesome time working at Disney for 7 months
-went on one of my best vacations yet; a cruise to the Bahamas with 20 friends
-hosted lots of visitors

-trained for, but never actually ran, a half marathon
-jumped out of an airplane from 15,000 feet

-was hired to work on airplanes with Sprit Airlines

-lost ten pounds (if found, please do not return)
-moved to Boca Raton
-continued my relationship with my four year on and off again, semi, kinda, boyfriend
-traveled to nearly every major US city

-visited lots of family and friends all over the country, including the great state of Alaska

-became an aunt cubed to Joseph Benjamin Six

-wrecked the silver Corolla (thanks for the memories, Silver Bullet)

-packed up a year and a half of life into my new car and drove from Fort Lauderdale to White Hall
-enjoyed an unforgettable month at home celebrating the holidays with family and friends

-moved across the world to Dubai and began working for Emirates Airline

-became about two shades lighter of a blond (solely from the desert sun...)
-lost my mom (we're talking 100% unexpected, out of the blue, 3 months later and I'm still waiting for someone to announce it was just a bad, very bad, joke)
-stuck a fork in previously mentioned four year relationship
-returned to Dubai and am attempting to return to life as normal (whatever the heck that means)

-have experienced some cool layovers with Emirates, including an especially fun one in LA

and lastly...
-traveled to 10+ countries, and counting.

Looking back on the past two years, there honestly isn't much I would change (with of course the exception of loosing my mom, but unfortunitly I didn't have much of a say in that one.) One of my her token phrases was, "Enjoy right where you are."

And for the most part, I think I am.
 :)