Oh dear, it has been a very long time since my last post. Although I would like to blame it on my extremely busy life, I'm sure I could have found the time. But (and here come the excuses) the fall term ended, reports were due, a million things needed grading, I took on even more private lessons than I had had previously, and I all my online students seemed to be trying to finish their courses in under a week. I found myself just struggling to get to bed at a decent hour and be up on time in order to be at work.
Let's not throw a pity party for me just yet. My weekends were also busy, but with wonderful things. The first weekend of December my friend had a thanksgiving party, then the next day I had a Chanukah party. The following weekend my lovely friend Camellia came to visit and it was Paul's birthday. Next it was Christmas parties, and girl's weekends and Christmas markets... Where was the time to just breathe?
The workdays creat by slower than ever as the weekends leaped away.
... Luckily, through all the stress of the last weeks, I survived work (and having a social life!) and I have started my journey home. It began last night with a flight delayed well over an hour. We were only flying to London, Heathrow, so it's 1 hour 20 minutes. Unfortunately for me, I have a knack of getting ill on planes. 20 minutes before landing, a migraine hit. Being on a loud, rocking, jerking, bright airplane is not what you need with a migraine. I was given some lovely drugs by the flight attends dogs and chuckled through the never ending halls at Heathrow to passport control. Let me tell you, this was The. Worst. Passport. Control. Ever. I was in the non-EU passport line, with about 100 other people (well, I was the back of the line...) and do you know how many desks there were? One. ONE. The EU and UK passport control is much quicker, by they had about 6 desks open. Do as we crawled forward at an imperceptible pace, Paul zipped right through. It wasn't until every last EU and UK citizen was checked in that they moved over to start with us. 30 minutes later, head pounding, teeth aching, nausea bubbling (migraine still fully in force) I made it through it's no more than a 20 second conversation and was passed through and on.
We had planned to catch the free shuttles from our arrivals gate to where our hotel was, situated in a terminal in Heathrow. Due to the delayed flight and pathetic border control, all the shuttles/trains/busses had stopped for the night. So instead we paid a ridiculous amount of money (£30? £40?) to go from one terminal to the next. Finally, we made it to our cute little Yotel, showered and bucked down for the night. The next day was another travel day!
We got up in plenty of time to fly on what might be the busiest travel day of the year. It took us no time at all to check in, but the security line was long and seemingly never-ending. So we were advised to sit down, have a cup of tea, and wait until it was 60 minutes before our flight and we could join the express line. We did just that, and had a lovely breakfast. Once rejoining the security line, it didn't take too long to get through. Unfortunately, by the time we got out of security our flight status was "flight closing". I had a near panic attack, and started sprinting for our gate. This is Heathrow after all, and about 10-15 minutes of all out sprinting, I got to our gate (which didn't seem to be closing after all!) We were sweaty, out of breath, and I was wheezing. It took us a while to stop coughing, but we eventually settled into our nice, business class comfy seats. The rest of the flight was enjoyable and (thankfully) uneventful. Here is a photo tour of our 2 week stay :)
On the way there... the Virgin Atlantic terminal and my inhaler (with champagne before the flight!)
Beaches and sunshine! The trip was worth it! My first day down by the beach. Note the kids are "sledding" on the sand hill here.
Finally I got to see sweet little Zoe with her amazing parents. She is crawling and babbling and too cute for words. I have about a million pictures of her on my camera.
And finally.... Christmas day! The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
Opening champagne and Skyping with Paul's parents to wish them a Merry Christmas, then presents and napping, and a yummy dinner and more napping zzzz
December 26th - DISNEYLAND!!!!
Look at those lines! California Adventure wasn't bad, but Disneyland was a nightmare! We waited an hour to get on Pirates and it closed just as we were about to bored. After a bit of complaining, we got taken through the back exit and to the front of the line again.
The next day, I got to take my two favorite kiddos to Mulligans for Go-Karting, Lazer-Tag, wall climbing, mini-golf and more! Loved it!
One of my New Year's Resolutions is to post more often - like twice a month or so. I guess we shall see how often that happens... :) Happy New Years everyone!
... Luckily, through all the stress of the last weeks, I survived work (and having a social life!) and I have started my journey home. It began last night with a flight delayed well over an hour. We were only flying to London, Heathrow, so it's 1 hour 20 minutes. Unfortunately for me, I have a knack of getting ill on planes. 20 minutes before landing, a migraine hit. Being on a loud, rocking, jerking, bright airplane is not what you need with a migraine. I was given some lovely drugs by the flight attends dogs and chuckled through the never ending halls at Heathrow to passport control. Let me tell you, this was The. Worst. Passport. Control. Ever. I was in the non-EU passport line, with about 100 other people (well, I was the back of the line...) and do you know how many desks there were? One. ONE. The EU and UK passport control is much quicker, by they had about 6 desks open. Do as we crawled forward at an imperceptible pace, Paul zipped right through. It wasn't until every last EU and UK citizen was checked in that they moved over to start with us. 30 minutes later, head pounding, teeth aching, nausea bubbling (migraine still fully in force) I made it through it's no more than a 20 second conversation and was passed through and on.
We had planned to catch the free shuttles from our arrivals gate to where our hotel was, situated in a terminal in Heathrow. Due to the delayed flight and pathetic border control, all the shuttles/trains/busses had stopped for the night. So instead we paid a ridiculous amount of money (£30? £40?) to go from one terminal to the next. Finally, we made it to our cute little Yotel, showered and bucked down for the night. The next day was another travel day!
We got up in plenty of time to fly on what might be the busiest travel day of the year. It took us no time at all to check in, but the security line was long and seemingly never-ending. So we were advised to sit down, have a cup of tea, and wait until it was 60 minutes before our flight and we could join the express line. We did just that, and had a lovely breakfast. Once rejoining the security line, it didn't take too long to get through. Unfortunately, by the time we got out of security our flight status was "flight closing". I had a near panic attack, and started sprinting for our gate. This is Heathrow after all, and about 10-15 minutes of all out sprinting, I got to our gate (which didn't seem to be closing after all!) We were sweaty, out of breath, and I was wheezing. It took us a while to stop coughing, but we eventually settled into our nice, business class comfy seats. The rest of the flight was enjoyable and (thankfully) uneventful. Here is a photo tour of our 2 week stay :)
On the way there... the Virgin Atlantic terminal and my inhaler (with champagne before the flight!)
Beaches and sunshine! The trip was worth it! My first day down by the beach. Note the kids are "sledding" on the sand hill here.
Then I met my cousin Jamie with her lovely husband and adorable kids for a little aquarium time.
Finally I got to see sweet little Zoe with her amazing parents. She is crawling and babbling and too cute for words. I have about a million pictures of her on my camera.
Then another run by the beach. I grew up in such a beautiful place. Why did I leave again?
Christmas eve had already arrived, and little Zoe was playing the part of Jesus!
And finally.... Christmas day! The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
Daddy and I drank some mimosas while mommy cooked us a delicious breakfast
Opening champagne and Skyping with Paul's parents to wish them a Merry Christmas, then presents and napping, and a yummy dinner and more napping zzzz
December 26th - DISNEYLAND!!!!
Look at those lines! California Adventure wasn't bad, but Disneyland was a nightmare! We waited an hour to get on Pirates and it closed just as we were about to bored. After a bit of complaining, we got taken through the back exit and to the front of the line again.
This is our serious face... serious about Star Tours!!!
We met up with my friend Erin to go to the observatory on a clear day. We could see LA and all its surroundings!
Then home again for a belated Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends.
Sunday morning, Zoe's baptism! The light was low, but it was such a privilege to be there. She is great in front of crowds and knows how to make everyone smile.
The next day, I got to take my two favorite kiddos to Mulligans for Go-Karting, Lazer-Tag, wall climbing, mini-golf and more! Loved it!
New Years Eve with family! We played board games and card games all night. I am one lucky girl.
The next day, I had a little more time with little Zoe, Andrea and family :) Zoe is all about climbing on her own now!
Zoe went on a swing for the first time and LOVED it!
Sadly, the time to go arrived much too soon, and we caught our plane home. It was a long travel day, but nothing exciting to report. It was pretty awesome having a bed on a red-eye flight!
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