Happy New Year … even though we’re almost into its second month.  As is usual, life has been pretty darn good to me.  There’s not much for me to complain about.  I mean there are things like: why do I have to get up early for work, why do I have to pay bills, why can’t I eat what I want AND lose weight?  I’m also bummed there’s no east-coast blizzard for me to play in, then groan about because it’s too cold.  I did, however, get a rare fog day in Al Ain, so driving in that to get my Starbucks was harrowing.

I’ve been back to work three weeks, and it’s been busy in a good way.  The girls and I are rolling along, prepping as much as we can for their big college-entrance exam in late February.  Before you know it it’ll be March, and we’ll be daydreaming about Spring Break.  Of course there are other work things I could whine about, but if I typed it out loud I’d just sound spoiled, so I’ll save any whinging for my work pals.

I never did get around to posting much about my last break, so here you go: Joe and I had a fantastic Christmas and New Years.  You already know how much I love visiting family in Germany, so I won’t bore you with how great that was (but oh my it was sooo nice to be with them).  We spent New Years in Copenhagen and absolutely loved it.  To all my English-speaking friends I highly recommend a trip there.  It’s expensive, but the people are fun and they speak English better than we do.  Plus, the city is easy to navigate, has amazing food (they even do hamburgers better than we do), and is quite a looker.  She’s a vixen, a mother, a bookworm, an artist, a bohemian, a nun; you name it she does it all.

We took a train from Hamburg to Copenhagen, which included the train parking on a ferry.  Sadly, that train route will end in a few months.  Apparently, they have a lot of issues with the diesel trains used for it.  Joe and I experienced the troubles first hand.  I bought first-class tickets for this trip because I wanted it to be special. Hahaha, well, it was in that the first train we were supposed to be on broke down and we were supposed to get on a bus instead, but we missed the bus.  You’d be amazed at how fast I can run with my fat ass and luggage when I’m trying to catch a ride — alas still not fast enough.  But, that turned out to be a good thing because we were then placed on the next train an hour and half later — no worries when the Bahnhof has a mini beer hall.

While our little first class corner was comfy, and we were seated next to two nice men, our train’s kitchen area was broken, so no food or drink service, and there were some issues with the bathroom, and no wifi (another first class plus).  BUT, we still had a great time — let’s face it we’re not first-class people anyway, who were we trying to fool?

Nothing can describe what it’s like to watch a semi truck park THIS CLOSE to your train on a boat that’s swaying on the sea.  The scenery before we got to the harbor was amazing too:  hilly farmland, stony villages and lots and lots of windmills.  Sorry, the train was moving too fast for me to get good photos.

I cannot compliment where we stayed enough.  Our hotel SP34 in the “latin district” of Copenhagen was awesome.  You check in at the bar, and our bartender was just what we needed.  He could tell we were wore out from the trip and immediately poured us a free drink — and got us checked into our rooms in no time.  He suggested the perfect meal for us at the Cock and Cow (who doesn’t want to eat at that name?), which is where I ate the best hamburger of my life (for reals!).

The trip only got better from there.  Long story longer New Year’s Eve was insanely amazing.  We had soooo, soooo much fun.  I don’t know how we’re going to top it at the end of this year.  Lord only knows where in the world we’ll bring in 2017, but we’ll worry about that 10 months from now.

As for life back in the UAE it’s still good.  I’ve been spending my off time relaxing at home with my neighbors or my netflix (or both), visiting my peeps in Abu Dhabi, and having some fun at our favorite places in Al Ain.  A Dubai weekend is coming up soon, and then there’s a Bahrain weekend trip planned in February, so again I don’t have a whole lot to complain about.  Oh wait, I do.  I really, really, really suck at the whole weight loss thing.  Inshallah I manage to shed a few pounds before summer vacation.

Okay finally, some photos for you (and I’m so sorry, but I’ve got to get some other things done so no real captions):  Although the 3rd pic on first row is of people climbing scaffolds for the fireworks in Copenhagen; the pic after that is of walking back to hotel.  Fireworks went on until like 5 a.m.