Have you ever woken up in the morning and been thoroughly confused as to where you were? That was my exact thought on the first morning I woke up in Texas. It took me a good minute to realize that I was in Nikki's guest bedroom and not in Abu Dhabi anymore.
The trip back home was realllllly long (over 22 hours and 3 flights) but it was totally worth it. When I touched down in Dallas, the real fun began. I had to gather my baggage and then re-check it for my flight to Houston. I wasn't worried about the time (almost 2 hour layover) but then I got into line for customs and suddenly, I started to worry a little. After finally making it through, I ran and checked my bag in only to find that my flight to Houston was not on the departure board. I didn't have a clue where to go, so I saw what gate most of the other AA flights were departing from, and headed that way praying I made the right assumption.
I ended up getting stuck in the line for security with less than an hour before my flight started boarding. Shortly after getting in line, a guard told a group of us to go to the next line because the line was shorter... so we complied--wrong call. The same dude came back about 20 minutes later and told us that there was a shorter line down the way if we wanted to go wait in it--the same line that he had moved us from before. I now had less than 20 minutes before my plane started boarding and I was still stuck in line for security--then the fun began... my flight started boarding and I was still a good 20 people back in line.
I was certain that I would be missing my flight to Houston and I didn't have a way to get a hold of Nikki to let her know what was going on. I woke up mid-flight to London and realized that I left my US cell phone charging on the counter in my kitchen--not the place for it to be!
After finally making it through the line, I checked the board once again. My flight was
still not on there. I was a tad stressed and a little unsure as to what to do--so I asked some workers who were chatting away for some help. They looked up the flight and told me that my flight was leaving out of the farthest gate from where I was at that moment and that I needed to run to catch it in time.
So that's what I did--minus the running part. I just walked quickly. I made it to the gate and asked if this was the flight to Houston. They naturally said yes and that they were closing the door. I had made it. Good times.
Nikki picked me up and I got to see my little man, Issac for the first time in 3 months. I wasn't greeted with a smile immediately, but I told him I would break him... and by the time we got on the highway, he smiled. :)
We had dinner at Denny's... Issac and I played with the "balls" on the Christmas tree while mama tried to finish eating her dinner and then made our long drive back to Bryan, Texas to spend the weekend. We got home pretty late and prepared for a long weekend of packing for their big move to Nebraska.
The first order of business Saturday morning for me was to get some potato and egg breakfast burritos and a Diet DP. It was delish! I could have had it every morning if I was allowed to--haha. We were supposed to meet up with our good friend, Katie, and her family that morning; but her son woke up with a fever. We ended up running to Target and Wal-Mart to pick up the most important things I needed back here in the UAE--goldfish and sweet-tarts.
Nikki's dad and brother arrived later that day and thus the packing and painting process began. In the midst of the move, Nikki's dad was really adamant about using plastic tubs to move with. So they went and got tubs and when they got back; I did what I do best, trying to occupy little man whilst the others packed.
I didn't get very many pictures because some little guy is obsessed with cameras... but our tub time was a blast!
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| Someone remembered the camera as soon as it was pulled out! |
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| spinning around in the tub mid-air was a blast!!! |
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| what ya up to Issac?!? t-r-o-u-b-l-e... |
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| just look at how much excitement a tub can bring! |
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| it was a little dizzying after though... lol |
Needless to say, I missed (and currently miss) this kid. I was blown away at how much he had grown/learned since I left 4 months ago. He was talking and learning things minute by minute. It was amazing to watch him mimic everything that I did... like putting my foot on a metal bar to rest it while at Home Depot getting carpet samples and seeing him follow suit. They really do watch every little thing you do and see if it's possible for them to do it as well.
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| keeping the kid occupied during an unwanted diaper change... camera distraction! |
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| just look at that face! |
This guy will soon be a big brother... like this week kind of soon. I'm excited that he's going to have a sweet little sister. Bummer I won't be able to be there and meet her though :/
