First of all, I can't believe that I'm really 38. Time just seems to fly much faster when you get older! Where did all the time go? I also can't believe that I've celebrated 4 birthdays in the UAE.
My 38th birthday wasn't all that exciting; it fell on a Friday this year so I was in Dubai, which was nice. After church I had lunch at Cheesecake Factory with Kristie, Vanny, and Jane. The girls wanted to know what I wanted to do for my birthday and my response was sleep! I know not exciting at all, but it had been a long week and I was exhausted. So we went back to Vanny's for a bit and I relaxed on her couch. I didn't really sleep, but it was nice to just sit there and close my eyes. We spent about 1/2 an hour at Vanny's before I had to go to the women's Bible study at church and Kristie had to go to a birthday party so we parted ways. Kristie met me at the Bible study after her birthday party was over and we headed home so I could sleep. Boring! But, that's OK. I didn't really want to do anything anyway. Plus it was nice to just have lunch with friends. That's really all I wanted to do. I did talk to my parents on my birthday so that was nice as well. But, like I said, hopefully next year we'll be celebrating together.
Other information:
- Kristie came back to the UAE Sunday 10/27 and she's been staying with me. I drove to Dubai to pick her up Sunday night and we had a good reunion with Vanny and Jane. I spent longer in Dubai than I had originally wanted, especially since it was a school night, but I enjoyed the time with just the 4 of us! Everything is back to normal! It's been fun having Kristie stay with me. It's nice to have someone in the house; someone to talk to and have dinner with. It's not so lonely anymore. A weird fact that I'm learning about Kristie is that she likes to eat interesting (and stinky:) foods. I've come home to my house smelling of fish after she makes her fish head soup, and some bitter radish smell after she boils her radishes. Gross! And, no I don't eat what she cooks. After the sardine episode I've given up on trying these weird dishes! So that only makes me continue to wonder what I'll eat when I go to the Philippines. I know I like si-sig so I guess I'll live off that when I'm there. Vanny and Jane said that they'll take me to the Philippine version of McDonald's where they serve rice! Rice at McDonald's; now that's weird!
- Hijra New Year (Islamic New Year) is this weekend and I have Sunday and Monday off! I don't plan on doing anything; just rest. I did my planning (it was easy since it's only a 3 day week and it's my 3 short days) today so I'm all done with that. We have 4 days off because we have to work next weekend for training:( I'm not looking forward to working 10 days straight, but I'll enjoy the time off now.
- I booked my flights for Christmas! I'm so excited. I'm going to Munich, Glasgow, and then meeting Deborah in Carlisle UK. I'll be in Munich 12/16-12/21 and I'll probably stay in Glasgow until 12/23 and then head to Carlisle (about 1/2 an hour from Scotland) to spend Christmas with Deborah and Sophia. I'll be back in the UAE on 12/26. I'm only going for 10 days, because it's really expensive, but I think that'll be enough time. It'll be nice to be with a family for Christmas, even if it's not my own. I have also been asked to go to India so I may do that after I get back on 12/27 and before school starts on 1/5, but that will all depend on how much it is and how much money I have left over.
