Vacation time

Boy o boy has it been a long couple weeks, well worth it, but long. I couldn't stay here for the holidays while my family was in the states, so planning and preparing for vacation was the only thing I could think about. I wanted to blog while I was home, but I was enjoying my time too much. It wasn't a long vacation, only 8 days. I gained a day going home so I actually got 9 days (still didn't feel long enough) but I was grateful for the time I did have.

So, let's start at the beginning of my vacation. I flew out at 3am on a Friday and landed in Chicago at 12pm on Friday, so there was my gained day. My next flight was in 5 hours to Dallas. Once Igot to Dallas my next flight was in less than an hour, and if you have never been to Dallas airport, it's huge. So I had to literally run from one side to the other, hop the train, and get to the other side of the airport. After I got off the train my gate was clear across to the other side, but don't worry, I made it in time. Boarded my last plane to go home to Louisiana. I couldn't wait to see the girls and that 47 min flight felt like it was taking forever. Yay I finally landed and both the girls and their other halves were there to pick me up. Let my vacation begin.

You may be wondering why I flew to Chicago and not straight to Houston or Dallas? Well, I was supposed to meet other family there for my 5 hour layover, but I was blown off. Surprise surprise. But I made the best of it and ate pizza (my favorite) with real sausage and not hotdogs and had a good cup of coffee. Two things I shouldn't live without. 😉

I was exhausted when I got home, but had to get some Christmas shopping done so off to the mall we went. Buying for adults is a lot harder than I thought it would be. Their interests are so different and their needs are not the same. So I left it up to them to tell me what they wanted or needed and they picked out most of their own stuff. I still wrapped it and put it under the tree. I did have a few surprises for them that they didn't know about and they loved them. Mom for the win! That Saturday we woke up at 6am to drive to Houston to go to the Tanger Outlet malls for more shopping. At this point I think I was sleep walking, but the kids were having fun, so I was happy. We walked over 6 miles at the mall and being so jet legged I think I got a second burst of energy. Other than that I'm really not sure how I didn't pass out standing. I was so tired ,maybe too tired that I couldn't fall asleep. Either way I was just happy to be home.

The girls had Christmas with their boyfriends families on Sunday, so I hung out at the house with the dogs until they came back. Wrapped presents, made supper, and relaxed from the previous busy 2 days. Christmas Day was finally here and the ham was in the oven. My oldest daughter made a prime rib and then the girls and I made all the other sides. Omg it smelt so amazing. But I couldn't wait for them to open presents. As we all opened all the presents, we just laughed and had such a great day. Those are the memories that I love to make. Food was finally done. It smelt so good all day, I couldn't wait to eat. While we ate we watched the new hunger games movie and most of us crashed out from being so full. Christmas was a success.

The rest of the week was amazing. Hung out with family and friends. But as the week went on I started to get sad, knowing I had to make the trip back and be here without my family was not easy. I try to tell myself it's for a purpose and it's all for the best, but that doesn't change the emotions of it. 4am. Saturday came faster than I wished and it was time to go back to the airport. And the nightmare begins but worked out in the long run if you look at it in a positive way. But let me tell you what happened. I show up to the rinky dinky airport in my hometown and they closed the gate for baggage 3 minutes prior, I had already been in line at so keep that in mind. They wouldn't take my luggage and told me I could bring them through the gate and they would check them from the top as valet bags, but couldn't have any fluids over 3oz, and I had all my makeup, perfum, shampoo and conditioner, and seasonings I had wanted to bring back to the UAE with me, so I didn't want to throw all that away. I begged her to just open it and take my 2 bags but she refused. So I had to reschedule my flight. The problem is if I reschedule one flight all the others needed to be rescheduled as well. My international flight only goes out 1 time per day. So, rescheduled all of the domestic flights and had to call UAE ($130 in international calls later) to reschedule that flight and found out it wouldn't be departing until Sunday at 12:40pm. Ugh. When I landed in Dallas I was informed I was on the standby list for the 2:20 and 4:20 flight to Chicago, and I was hoping for the 2:20 one, but didn't get it. So it's almost 2 I had already been in Dallas for almost 2 hours and I get a notification that my plane is delayed. Just great! I was so over airports at this point already I didn't want to sit there until 5:45 waiting for a flight. But on the plus side I was able to get ahold of my brother and ask him to come spend the night with me in Chicago so I could see my nephew. Luckily he was off work so he made the 4 hour drive with my step brother and my nephew to come and spend the night with me. I hadn't seen him in almost 3 years and I am so greatly appreciative of my brothers to take the time out of their schedules to come see me and bring my little man who I have missed so much. I had got a hotel room and gave my brother the directions so he could check in while I waited for the airlines to get it together. He checked in and got my nephew settled while they waited for me to land to come pick me up. Yay I was finally in Chicago and able to see my little Ry. Oh and my brothers. 😂😉 We toured the city since none of them have ever been there (my favorite city) and was on the hunt for Spider-Man, my nephew was in training to be the new "Peter Parker" (story for another day, it's a cute one) and of course ate pizza. It was so good to spend time with them. After a long wrestling match between all of us on the beds in the room, we finally went to sleep. But the crazy was not over yet, it started to snow that morning. Not a lite covering either, a lot of snow. As pretty as it was and as happy as I was to see snow, I knew it wasn't going to be good. The boys left early to try and beat the bad weather and I headed to the airport early just in case. We boarded the plane as usual, but sat on the runway for over an hour and 45 min to de ice the plane and clear the runway. Maybe it was a sign I was meant to stay in Louisiana. 😔

My plane landed in Abu Dhabi on Monday. I went through 3 different New Years and a long plane ride I was over it and just wanted to take a shower and curl in bed and watch tv. Except the stupid TV didn't work, talabat was out of the food I ordered, and I was just too tired to care. Obviously not that tired because I couldn't sleep. I was up and down all night and had to work at 6 am. I will try again to go to sleep early tonight and hopefully I stay asleep.

My vacation was amazing until I had to come back. It was either a sign I wasn't meant to leave Louisiana or a gift to have the time with family in Chicago. Either way it was a much needed vacation and so many memories were made in such a short time. Never take for granted the time you have with your loved ones. It's irreplaceable!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and happy New Year. Tell me about your crazy endeavors over the holiday season.

Until next time.

~Heather~