Welcome 2022 . . . I think

I took some time off from blogging for the holidays because I needed a bit of a break from pretty much everything. Although we are still in the 12 Days of Christmas, I have to say that we had a decent Christmas holiday. The hubby and I took a quick trip to the Dominican Republic for a tropical Christmas. All I gotta say is that we had a few Christmas miracles that made the trip possible.

The view from our room

Miracle 1:

The night before our Christmas Day flight (around 7pm for a 5am flight), I received an email stating that our flight was canceled. After spending about 1.5 hours on the phone with American Airlines (Rhonda was so nice), we were able to get placed on another flight (flying out of Newark Airport instead of JFK).

Miracle 2:

Upon arriving at Newark Intl Airport, the line for checking in was really, Really, REALLY long. I told the hubby to wait in the line and went to the priority/1st class line and was like Puss Boots in requesting that the woman check us in . . . even though we were not 1st class travelers (wait, that sounds weird).

Fortunately, Daring (the AA rep) had a touch of the Christmas spirit and let us check-in for our flight.

Miracle 3:

We did not contract COVID while in the DR. Very important because we needed to be COVID-free in order to fly back to the States.

In the DR, we pretty much did the resort life of sitting on the beach or poolside, drinking like fish, eating like pigs, and smoking like a chimney (in my case). Unfortunately, Riu (my international all-inclusive resort go-to) was booked in Punta Cana so we went to Serenade Punta Cana. I’ll give that spot a 7 out of 10, but the trip itself was a 9 out of 10. Actually, I think that I’ll bump the resort to an 8 out of 10 since we/they are dealing with a pandemic. Overall, I thought the quick trip was very refreshing (and very necessary) and wish that we could have stayed longer but the hubby had to work.

Random thought: Eastern Europeans are really all about their fitness. One morning, I went to the resort’s gym and there were kids (10 – 13 years old) in the gym pumping iron with their parents.

Speaking of workouts: Unfortunately, I had to break my running streak during our day of travel from NYC to our final destination. That said, I did enjoy having the opportunity to do morning runs along the beach until I saw a pack of feral dogs. I kid . . . it was like two dogs, but I did not see any owners around so I ran my ass back to the resort.

Random Rant:

Ok not to sound super patriotic/nationalistic, but why does it take US citizens/permanent residents 3 times as long to clear US Border Control compared to visitors. The hubby and I spent about 2.5 hours in the border control line at JFK Intl Airport. Look, I do not mind waiting forever and a day in a line when entering other countries, but it should not be like this in my own country. I told the hubby, I was going to apply for Global Entry as soon as we get back to the damn apartment.

Ok, I just received word that my application was approved and that I could schedule an interview. Come to find out the earliest interview is in freaking May 2022 at Newark International Airport. To make it worse, there were no available interviews anywhere in New York State with the exception of the center that is near Niagra Falls. WTF! Again, I get that we are dealing with a pandemic, but why not have some sort of virtual interviewing process?

This New Year’s Eve meme touched my soul.

A quick recap of 2022

• Jan: 1st COVID vaccine dose
• Feb: Quick road trip to DC and Va to visit my family
• Mar: Bought some new shoes
• Apr: Picked up bouldering as a new hobby
• May: Quick trip to Puerto Rico
• Jun: Somewhere drinking beer for my bday
• Jul: My former students sent me a nice wine glass that states I’m gonna keep it real since I had some gin. I do not recall saying this, but it does sound like something that I would say.
• Aug: Another trip to my home state to visit family and friends and to run Va Beach’s Half Marathon
• Sept. Trip to Spain to visit the hubby’s family and friends and to run Madrid’s Half Marathon
• Oct: Dinning at one of our favorite NYC Restaurants (Tomino)
• Nov: NYC marathon 2021
• Dec: Tropical Christmas

I kind of like doing this 12 pictures for the 12 months of 2021. Thinking about 2021 on a day-by-day basis, it feels like we did not do anything or enjoy this year because of the pandemic. Looking at this 12-month overview, this pandemic year was not THAT bad for us.

Hopefully, this will mark a great start to 2022 and beyond.

Question of the Day:

What are you looking forward to in 2022?

Social Media Plug:

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Kwame s (Strava)