Dorothy Cottrell

Sorry for not posting a blog for a long time but life has been hectic. Leaving Qatar was very sad. There were so many pupils at school and out of school who I cared for and loved to be with. I missed them dreadfully. However, I have always said that I am the real-life Mary Poppins and, when the wind changes, I have to “put up my umbrella” and move on – and that is what I am about to do (but more of that in a future blog). I have so many people to thank for making the last few months very special. My family and extended family in Spain have been amazing, also my family in Scotland. Sue and Pat are such wonderful friends. Then it was off to America where Brenda and Ray in Tennessee and Barbara in Oklahoma made me so welcome. Richard and Pat in Michigan, plus their family in Iowa and Indiana, were a joy to be with. After meeting up with all my four grandchildren in Glasgow, it was down to London where Elspeth, Alan and Helen made me feel at home. A huge Thank You to all my family and friends for your support.

It was lovely to see friends and family when I went back to Scotland for Christmas, especially to be in the same room as all my family in the world – my daughters and son, their spouses and my 4 grandchildren. What was not so nice was the weather – lots of snow and freezing temperatures, slippery roads and pavements like ice rinks. I flew back on New Year’s Eve, from Glasgow to Dubai and then on to Doha and celebrated the start of 2010 at the gate in Dubai waiting for the doors of the plane to open. Flying via Dubai meant I saw the world’s tallest building, which is amazing, and sights like the palm tree complex. A similar group of teachers who went to the England v Brazil football match here went to the Qatar Open Tennis Championships last night. Last year I saw Roddick, Nadal, Federer and Murray in the quarter-finals. This time we saw Nadal win and Federer lose in the semi-finals from fabulous seats near the action. We also saw the mens’ doubles final which two Spaniards won. Each match was more exciting than the one before. I wish a Happy New Year to all of you who are reading this !

As I hinted in a previous blog, the number of grandchildren I have has again increased with a daughter born to my son and daughter-in-law in Glasgow. She was early by a few weeks and is quite small but she is “perfect” according to her dad. I can’t wait to see her and my other grandkids when I have a trip home for my Winter Break. Can’t say I’m as keen to experience the Scottish winter weather but I hear that hot-water bottles are already awaiting my arrival.

A friend sent me details of an interesting website called www.bookdepository.co.uk They send books around the world with no delivery charges and you can order them in different currencies. It’s a handy site for you all to know about. Last Saturday a number of us went to the England v Brazil football match which was played in Doha. The atmosphere was electric and the whole experience was amazing.

As you can see, my wonderful website creator has added links directly to Amazon for people in the UK. If you live elsewhere, you can find the books for sale on www.amazon.com However, I do appreciate that there are parts of the world where receiving mail can be difficult. So you can pop into any book shop with the following ISBN numbers :

Lessons Learned : 978-1-84748-025-5

Keeping the Dream Alive : 978-1-84748-299-0

Testing Times : 978-1-84748-571-7

Happy Reading !!

Here I am back in Qatar after a very memorable summer break. Beautiful scenery and wonderful friends in Vancouver. Wonderful friends in Chattanooga, too – and we explored all there was to see there. On to London and Scotland to see family & friends and to attend a special event in Edinburgh. I was invited to Holyrood Palace, to a dinner hosted by Prince Philip in his role as Chancellor of Edinburgh University. I took my friend Liz and we had a great time. I also saw  ‘A Comedy of Errors’ during the ‘Bard on the Beach’ festival in Vancouver and Sarah managed to drag herself away from her amazing son, Santiago, to come with me to see ‘Les Miserables’ in London. Excitement to the end. The day before I flew back, my free copies of ‘Testing Times’ arrived so I was able to sign and post them before I left. Then the taxi driver and I headed to the airport in Glasgow, along with the world’s press, as the Lockerbie bomber flew out a short time before I did. Oh, and my 4th grandchild, due at Christmas to Peter & Jill, is a girl. Details of ‘Testing Times’ are now on my website and any day now should be available to buy on the Amazon websites (or through links which will be set up on my website for folks in the UK.)

I am nearly there with a lot of things. Nearly at the end of another school year, nearly at the end of my report writing and exam marking, nearly at the start of my summer vacation and nearly at the stage of publishing ‘Testing Times’. The manuscript is sitting on my sofa after its second to last edit and I hope to courier it back to the publishers this evening. In 10 days, I will be setting off to see friends and family in Canada, America, England and Scotland during my 2-month break. Then I will return here in August to start another school year. I was pleased to pass my ESL course at school. After all these years of teaching kids whose first language was not English, I now know how I should have been doing it ! Thanks to all of you who have posted comments to me – you’re the best !

I moved to the Middle East just in time to avoid the snow in the U.K. and I have no complaints about the weather here. In fact, I have no complaints at all at the moment. I am enjoying my new school and have made lots of lovely new friends here, especially a wonderful lady called Susie – and her dog, Haggis. Yes, Susie is a fellow Scot. A few days ago I sent the manuscript of my 3rd book back to the publishers by courier. At the same time, I sent a card and present off to my new grandson in London. I had 3 children in 3 years, wrote 3 books in 3 years and now I’ve had 3 grandchildren in 3 years. I suspect there will be more of the latter to come yet, though.

The good news is that the publishing process for ‘Testing Times’ has begun. Despite returning to Scotland to be near the family, my job situation has become dire. The ‘credit crunch’ has caused a lack of supply/substitute teaching and I’m too old to be interviewed for any full-time jobs. I am not financially comfortable enough to give up the thought of working – and I miss being in the classroom too much. I also feel too young to be a full-time grandma. So I started searching for a job and the conclusion of that search is that I am returning to the Middle East to teach in January. After making a mess of my first time there, I am determined to make a success of it this time. Lessons certainly were learned by me !

Testing Times – that’s what the third book is going to be called. I sent it off to the publishers a couple of days ago. If it is acceptable, the wheels will start turning and it should be published next summer. If you thought the second book was sad then I wouldn’t advise buying this one. However, it is full of world travels including Morocco, America, Egypt, Abu Dhabi, Peru and Italy which are all quite jolly. I started out to write about Spain but it took half the book to explain why I ended up there in the first place. Of course, that half also included the travels I’ve just mentioned.