I'm all new!!!!

A run on Town Lake in Austin

After almost 3 weeks of sleeping, lounging, eating, exercising, resting and nourishing my soul in Austin and Dallas, it came time to return to the UAE for my new job. Three days before my return I felt panic returning. Even though my mind knew that my new job will be better, my body feared a repeat of the trauma of the first semester. I was able to talk to some friends who helped me calm down, but then my anxiety shifted to the plane ride back. 

[Un]fortunately there is a direct flight from Dallas to Abu Dhabi (yay!) but it is 15 hours long (boo!). The ride back to Texas was agonizingly long, even though it was from Amman, Jordan to Austin and only 12 hours long and I had a aisle seat (which was a first and I learned how much better the aisle is than the window).  When I went online to check in, there were only middle seat left and my anxiety grew. So we got to the airport over 3 hours early so I could wait in line and hope for a premium economy seat.

When it came my turn, however, I skipped right to Business Class. The amount to upgrade was not nearly as bad as I expected, and then it was done. In retrospect, it was a fitting start to the new semester. It was telling myself, I deserve to treat myself as well as I would treat anyone else.

Merry Christmas to me!

Not only do I get to lounge the entire flight, I get privacy.

It's a whole new deal. I feel like a whole new person! Here's the bullet point update. I am so blessed:

• I slept most of the way back from Dallas, knocking out most of the cold that was brewing in me. I was disappointed to wake up on the flight, though, with only 3 hours of flight time left. I wanted more time to play with all the toys!
• My Aunt and Uncle gave me a Kindle for Christmas and I love it. I figured out how to check out items from my home library and read for those extra 3 hours on the flight. I can't put it down.
• New Year's Eve with my cousins at their party! I went for an hour and stayed for 4! 

  

  Buddy and Brad <3

• Although my new school is in a suburb, I ended up getting to stay in my current building through the summer. I just had to move up 5 floors and accept an ocean view. A friend and I moved all my stuff before break in about an hour.

My new view

• The new school is on top of things. The told me exactly what to do before I left the old job and I got my visa three days before I flew back to Abu Dhabi. This is a really, really fast turnaround.
• My former employer was very efficient in getting my visa cancelled so I could start the new visa process with the new job. This is becoming more evident as I talk to more people.
• I went to school on Thursday (I arrived on Wednesday) and they knew I was coming. I knew they knew I was coming, but I was not prepared for how well prepared they were for me! They handed me a bag of supplies, a computer, details on upcoming dates. Someone took me to the IT people to get tools for my room. The IT guy came to my room to show me how the interactive board works. I felt so valued.

Fuzzy but happy Joy!

• The Amazon Fire Stick that Santa brought me for Christmas is amazing! I have a whole world of programs available to me now!
• The weather here is amazing. The high today was 75°F. The temp in Dallas when I left was 23°F. 
• I went to the gym almost every day when I was home, and I've gone every day since I got back. This has resulted in losing a few of the pounds I gained since I got here.

The best part last: no dread. No fear. No overwhelmed. I believe this might be called something like balance. I am centered and connected and grounded. I am full of hope and feel transformed, healed and renewed.