Unbelievable..... just spent about 30 mins writing a lengthy entry and then lost the whole damn thing.... GRR!
Anyway, we have returned from our much needed and much enjoyed trip to the UK! We are all jet lagged, especially Harry who has woken at 4.30am for the last 2 days.
We had a great trip - our first 'home' for Christmas since emigrating 4.5 years ago. It was so nice to be surrounded by family and friends for once!
We stayed at first in Hereford with G's family. As usual we barely saw Dylan during the week as he palls up with his cousins and plays hard! He really loves spending time with them and it does him alot of good. We hung out with G's mum alot as she was not working and we went to see Auntie Betty in Wales on one of the days. We all suffered horrendous jet lag while we were there (with the exception of Dylan)... Harry and I got it the worst, waking at midnight for 3 or 4 hours at a time until finally a week later on arrival at my mums we both drugged ourselves to get back into a proper routine.
Spending Christmas in Coaville was great...... we had a good long time at mums and I think she enjoyed having us (despite the giant amounts of laundry we generated!). Harry ended up getting a tummy bug for a few days but remained in good humour. Dylan went to Cadbury World with Auntie Kay and Uncle Ken and came back with armfulls of Chocolate! We felt very relaxed and cared for and looked after by Mum and K & K and Mama, all of whom spoiled us and the boys rotten. We ate non stop. We went out with UKChat people and had an hilarious night at a Working Mens Club in Leicester playing bingo, we went out for dinner with Jo & Robin, visited Nanny, watched quality British Telly, and ate...and ate... and ate!
We finished off with a spell in London where the boys delighted their Grandad no end ...... Dylan with his sense of humour and the fact that he's growing up and Harry with his smiley good nature! We took the boys to 'Snakes and Ladders' (climbing place that I seriously wish the like existed here) where Harry learned some excellent coordination and loved clambering on the equipment and Dylan was 'brave' climbing the big area with Emily! We also went to the British Museum to see the Mummies (most of whom seem to still be on tour - we had previously seen them in Toronto) and the Rosetta Stone and to get his teacher a pressie. Also saw Neil for lunch which was an added bonus.
The flights both ways were thankfully unadventurous and easy.... particularly on the way back as we ended up 2 and 2 and I got Dylan (thus enabling me to watch movies and relax...haha!).
Coming back didn't feel like coming home this time, When we moved to Canada we didn't allow ourselves a trip home for a year so that we were forced to settle in. Whenever we went back to the UK I always felt glad to get home afterwards if only to get my own home / space back...... but being for the most part extremely unsettled here and having been lonely, stressed, and miserable for the last 6 months it didn't feel like I was coming 'home' when I got off the plane.
Although it's nice to have our own space the house immediately depressed both Gareth and I as soon as we got back into it. We'd got used to living with all the clutter and problems but having 3 weeks away from it in non-state-of-disrepair houses (despite being British and having the lack of US luxury items such as endless hot water and shower pressure and consistent heating!) it was a bit of a downer to come back to it. We remedied some of that yesterday by doing some of the wiring, throwing a bunch of crap out and making the bathrooms less cluttery, and installing a cheap but new shower head in our shower that actually works (we had previously not bothered as the whole thing will be ripped out soon but it is too depressing to live with).
So today I sit here, at home, alone with Harry for the first time in weeks. G has been great over the holiday by taking almost all the responsibility for Harry, changing his bum when needed and getting up with him in the morning. After 6 months of single-parenting it was very well appreciated and I was able to relax for the first time in what feels like forever. After all that, and after being surrounded by family and activity, it's crap to be sitting here in the quiet and having nothing to really do or anyone to do it with.
But I will endure and I will continue to try to settle here.......... 2 friends have already contacted me to make plans to do things and I am going to the gym tomorrow to work off some of these Christmas pounds (like I really needed to gain MORE weight!) which is nice, and the house will get done - eventually - and hopefully by the end of 2006 (if not sooner, please!) I will feel like this is home.
Posted by katie at January 3, 2006 07:28 PM