are we there yet?!?

WOW! Baby’s first blog! Here it goes...

April 5^th, 2010

Dear Diary,

Today Peter and I left Houston, Kuwait bound! Our flight left IAH at 6:45pm and we took at 14 hr and 25 min flight to Dubai. I really haven’t had any anxiety about the move but was a little worried that I would lose it on the flight. The plane was GINORMOUS! I don’t know what kind of plane it was, not really into that kind of thing, but it was definitely the biggest plane I’ve ever been on! We flew Emirates, which is based in Dubai. I got on this monster and immediately realized WHY it was so freakin huge…. Ummmm, the seats are HUGE, I’m talking twin bed style here people, and they recline ALL the way! There are dividers between each seat so you have complete privacy and each seat is equipped with a 12 inch flat screen tv! The flight attendants were already serving wine and mimosas and there was a luxurious blanket and pillow neatly folded and fluffed in each seat! OH WAIT… that was 1^st class… keep walking Lydia…

We passed through business class, which I would have totally settled for! Wonderful accommodations on a slightly smaller scale, keep walking Lydia… There she is, 34K, window seat SCORE! Wait, not so fast, Peter called window = DANG IT! I sat in between Peter and a very sweet large man with a healthy mustache. Poor thing, he chewed nicorette continuously for FOURTEEN HOURS!

The plane had 3 seats on each side with a row of 5 in the middle (in my section, first class had 2 on each side and 2 in the middle so that should give u and idea of how large the seats were). I said a little prayer for the person in the middle of row five. They served drinks first, alcohol is FREE! Oh, except for champagne, which I don’t normally care for but since I had just seen 1^st class get served I especially wanted one… what’s that? US$8, I’ll pass… I opted for a glass of white wine, she gave me a baby bottle = ADORABLE! They fed us right after and I have to say I was impressed with every meal they served. One of the snacks was a cheese and pickle sandwich, which I balked at, but then ate out of boredom. Ummm, it was DELISH! The seats were OK and I did have my own 10in TV with over 100 channels with On-Demand movies and TV. There were a TON of movies to choose from and I watched movies for the duration of the flight, minus the 45 mins that I snoozed.

I couldn’t believe how fast the plane ride went. I only went stir crazy once, for about 25 mins after I watched Twilight: New Moon (which I totally blame for my foul mood). Peter and nicorette neighbor were both snoozing and the whole plane was lights out. ‘Am I the only one awake,’ I thought? I couldn’t feel my butt, my knees hurt and I couldn’t stretch out my legs b/c my loving husband was so sprawled out. My neighbor’s blanket was tucked into the seats between us and was taking up AT LEAST an inch or two of my seat and on a flight like that = NOT COOL! I started to feel squirmy and hot and then immediately began to panic about restroom access… I had already had 2 baby bottles of wine, 3 small waters (they’re like 3 oz, served in little plastic cups like the kind your mom packed in your school lunch with a peel off lid) and 2 cups of coffee. I made a couple groaning noises followed by some deep sighs hoping to wake Peter but I had no luck. POOOOOP! Ok, I’m going to take a nap… 15 mins later, I woke up and decided to watch another movie…

I have to give my bladder some serious props on this trip, only ONE bathroom trip people!!!! ONE! This trip was the ONLY time I left my seat for almost 15 hours and I walked there in my socks b/c I could only find one flip flop. Big deal, I mean, it had to be on the plane SOMEWHERE!

We landed in Dubai and the airport was SOOOOO nice, I wanted to take picts but I was trying to blend in and not look like a total tourist… I immediately suggested cocktails and we found a super nice little bar where I ordered some wine – figured this was my last opportunity to enjoy alcohol of any kind for a long time soooo… had a couple. Peter had water… Note: My husband is no party pooper, but he had to work at 7 in the am while I get to sleep all day…

Our layover was only about an hour and the flight to Kuwait was only about an hour and a half. Just long enough for me to watch 500 Days of Summer. It was already 9pm there and AS SOON as I got off the plane I immediately felt I was in a foreign country. I mean, I knew this was where I was headed but come on, I’ve never been ANYWHERE!!! My head was on a swivel looking at everything and Peter had to keep an eye on me to make sure I was keeping up. EVERYONE smokes, didn’t matter that we were in an airport… It was a little overwhelming in the airport. Peter and I went to get our visas – which was an ordeal b/c these peeps have never heard of lines, you just get in where you can fit in! I’m going to get REALLLLLLY good at this, no worries!

We got our luggage and a man from Halliburton was there to pick us up and take us to the house. I didn’t see much from the back seat b/c it was already almost 11pm. Oh, and people weren’t lying when they said the driving here is NUTS. Will go into more detail about that later! Peter noticed that my feet were SUPER swollen, sick!! My toes looked like little cocktail weenies! L

Once we got to the house we hauled our luggage in and I figured I should eat again, I’ve been served meals almost every 3 hours for the last day or so and I have to say, I’m a huge fan! We ordered some pizza from Pizza Hut, that’s RIIIIIGHT! We got supreme thin crust (pepperoni and sausage were both made from beef but I couldn’t tell) and we settled in and watched some SNL reruns. All in all, not a bad trip at all!