My Golden Ticket Has Arrived

So it is now official....I take off to Abu Dhabi on August 10th (this Wednesday). I actually found out this Saturday afternoon, but have been so busy with my "Going Away" events. I have to say that things worked out perfectly as far as how this was my last weekend and we had all of our events done this past weekend.  It started out with my really good friend Lynisa coming into town on Thursday. I was excited the whole day and had so much anticipation for her arrival. She arrived at the airport Thursday evening and we had quite the adventure from the moment I picked her up. When we were waiting for her bags at the carousels we found hers. It was easy to distinguish for the fact that her bag was open and her clothes were all over the carousel going round and round. Cricky!!!We both were laughing so hard that we were in tears and others had to help us grab her clothes. It was just too much for us to handle through all of our tears of laughter. Thank goodness there wasn't anything embarrassing being shown. It was unfortunate for my friend, but we both could laugh about it all weekend. This was pretty much how our weekend went.  It was full of laughter and tears from laughter. We met so many new people and made great memories with our "old" friends as well.

@ the boat party :)

   On Saturday is the day we had the boat party. It really was an amazing time and I am so thankful for everyone who went out and made it fun. The weather was awesome and the company was even better. I really hope that everyone else who made it out enjoyed themselves as much as I did.  It was a great way to spend my Saturday. Being out there on the water with great company really gave me the opportunity to enjoy my time here in America one last time before I leave. There was a time on the boat where I found myself alone thinking about my life and the direction its going in. Looking around,  seeing all the other boats full of people enjoying themselves and seeing the boat I'm in full of people with smiles and spilling with laughter made me thankful for my life. These images will forever be in my head when I think back of my life in America. I'm thankful for the time I had this past weekend; it really was a great way to spend my last weekend in America.

Fun with Friends!

            On the flip side, once everyone was gone...reality hit me in the face. Once my friends started leaving I realized that this would be many of goodbyes with people I love here. The biggest hit yet is Romo. On Sunday my friend Lisa; who will be watching him, was visiting and asking questions about him. Which pleases me, knowing that she wants to take care of him the same way that I do. Going through his things and showing her his needs and wants, had me choked up. That was my first true time that I broke down in tears. After this the day continued full of tears and realization that I am going to either have to live a few months or the next two years without my best friend in life. It may sound silly to those who don't know the bond an owner and a dog have, but I know that Romo knows. He has continued to be clingy and won't let me out of his sight. Friday when my friend Lynisa and I were leaving to go out; Romo ran out and hid underneath the car. I thought if he was out in the heat for a while he would come back if I left him be. Fifteen minutes later he still hadn't. I then tried to entice him with his favorite treats (Pupperoni) even with that he wouldn't budge. I decided I would just reach for him underneath the car and grab him. Romo would see me approach and squeeze himself into another crevice of the car underneath where he couldn't be reached. Finally I had to shimmy my way underneath the car to grab him. Romo didn't want me to leave. Even as I blog about this Romo is by my side with his head laying on my feet. I wish he could talk to me so we could share our feelings and make things better for one another. He's starting to mope around next to me and you can see in his eyes that he knows our last days together for awhile are approaching. I never thought it was easy but, never knew it would be this hard. My Mother has been doing a great job though of trying to keep his mind off things and play with him while I am packing up and running around getting last minute things together.
      So I must say that receiving the plane tickets are bittersweet. I'm glad that I finally know when the new chapter of my life begins, yet sad that I know when this one will be closed for a while. I find myself stretched very thin trying to call everyone, hangout with family and friends, and pack all within the next two and a half days. I don't think I will be sleeping much the next few days and will have to sleep on the plane. I will have plenty of time to do that since I won't arrive in Abu Dhabi until Thursday. I leave Austin at five o'clock and fly to Washington for four hours. Then I have a hour layover in Washington and fly out to Doha. I will be on my flight to Qatar overnight and will arrive there on Thursday. I have a few hours in Qatar and fly off to Abu Dhabi. Finally on Thursday I should arrive to Abu Dhabi around 11:00p.m. Abu Dhabi time (7:00 a.m. Thursday Texas time). I will have quite a flight to look forward to the next couple of days.  Hoping that all goes well (Inshallah!)
       Now it's time to buckle down and pack for the next two years of my life, pretty easy huh?! Wish me luck :) Like My Dog- Billy Currington