A blog about me and my adventure as an ex-pat.
Because someone told me to... Thank you Gaby.

Friday, April 6, 2012

is there anyone out there?!

Hello?

Oh hi! Glad to see you are still with me! I thought I lost you - it's been so long since I last wrote something here that I thought you might have got bored and wandered off!!

It's April! I can't believe it! Where has this year gone already?!

Spring has come too early - I wasn't ready! Don't get me wrong, I am loving the sunshine, the beautiful blossom colours (the pinks, purples and yellows are so vibrant you'd think there was food colouring in the water here!) being outside, the fact the neighbourhood seems to have woken up... People are out and about again, cleaning up their bikes, dusting off the garden furniture, wheeling out the bbqs... Kids have grown over the winter.... People are smiling...

But I am not ready. I only just got back from our latest home leave and it has taken quite a while to recover!! I took the kids on my own (I know I must be mad) to England for 2.5 weeks. It was a fantastic trip, so worth it but so hard work. And it's not that I had to do everything from pack the bags and load the car, drive from place to place, get the kids up, dressed and fed etc every day but being responsible, being the single parent, doing all of the discipline - that was tough! We all had a bad case of jet lag and Toby ended up in my bed every night. I lost so much sleep but it was such a special time for me with my kids - I got to snuggle up to them every night and go on this big adventure with them.

So it has taken a good 3 weeks to get over the jet lag (spring time change didn't help!), do all of the washing, catch up on jobs and actually fit back into life here. I've had a bad case of home sickness too but finally feel like I am back on top of things and getting back into the way of life here.

And then spring lands early and I need to find our summer clothes, the sun tan lotion, the garden toys and order swimming costumes.

I feel a bit cheated out of the long, dark winter with snow and ice storms and piles of snow that seem like they will never melt. Don't get me wrong - it was cold and we had plenty of snow but it kept melting and was never that dramatic. Locals keep saying it's been a weird winter and freaky to have such warm weather in March. But again let me say I am not complaining, I just wasn't prepared for it. I was prepared to freeze for another month or so but instead I have tan lines and have put the winter coats away!

I think I can safely say that spring has sprung... The blossoms are on the trees, the tulips are in full bloom and there have only been a couple of nights when it has frozen so bring it on! Once Easter is over, summer I will be ready for you (though not quite as I had hoped - all this exercise is not enough to compensate for all of the delicious food I ate in England - trifles, sausages, cakes, roast dinners... It has been like Christmas day, every day for 2 weeks at a time, in November, December and February!!) So my waistline is suffering but thankfully swim skirts are fashionable here so I can hide that and enjoy the pool and beach and 80o heat!!

No comments:

Post a Comment