The Christmas Holidays sped by so fast, and I tried soak up every ounce of Hayden I could, knowing it might not be a year till I saw him again. I packed and unpacked my 2 suitcases untold times, trying to decide just what I'd need, and trying to decide what I might not be able to find if I decided I'd need it later. Mark and I decided to taxi to the airport--partly because it made it easier to haul our stuff, but mostly because I was afraid I'd become a sobbing mess when I kissed Megan and Hayden goodbye. The ride to the airport was a blur....checking in our luggage was a blur.....getting on the plane was a blur.....but my last view of my beloved Albuquerque will forever be etched into my mind. Thank goodness my husband is one of those ones that fall asleep before the plane ever leaves the gate--or he'd have thought I'd gone over the edge!

I remember when I was young, my parents said 'leaving family behind is one of the hardest things to do'....and I recall thinking..."yeah yeah yeah"....well, like with most things, the older I got, the smarter my parents got, and they had this one nailed on the head.

Most of our air travel was uneventful until we got to Heathrow Airport. "They" calmly announce on our landing there was a 'small' delay until we could get to a gate. So...we sat on the tarmac, watching snow fall, for what eventually became 90 minutes or more. Flying, I'm good with--sitting trapped in an aluminum tube on a tarmac makes me want to peel wallpaper and shred the seat upholstery. Just when I was about to reach the stage of screaming banshee, they announced in their little gleeful British accents that our gate is now free and we'd be debarking soon.

Debark we did, knowing by the time we got through Passport Check we would have already missed our connecting flight to Abu Dhabi and needed to start thinking of Plan B. We sprinted to the first British Airways counter, arranged for a flight to Dubai and then sprinted to that gate, well, after a stop at the BA lounge for some snacks and a much-needed glass of wine for me. It felt more than a little decadent having wine mid-morning, local time! Heck with it, was my opinion. We get on the plane, and those doggone chirpy British Airways stewards said there would be a 'small delay' while our plane was DE-ICED? HUH? I don't recall volunteering for ice or long tarmac sits....I only wanted to get to Abu Dhabi! Sun! Ocean!

We finally took off for a long uneventful flight, and it was fascinating watching (between snoozes) the interactive flight map and looking out the window and realizing what towns and countries we were flying over. OK, so I'm a newbie. It was fascinating to me.

We landed in Dubai after midnight but before daybreak...and walked for what seemed liked miles to go through Passport Control. We retrieved our luggage, and hail a taxi to take us to Abu Dhabi (about 60 miles away)....and although it was the dead of night, I soaked in all I could see. Our driver was very pleasant, spoke pretty good English, and we had a nice visit for our hour-long trip.

We arrived at the apartment and tossed our suitcases on the floor and ourselves on the sofas, all the while grinning that 'we had really DONE it'! We were now in Abu Dhabi!