So we have been back three weeks and I feel like the Tasmanian devil when he just keeps on spinning (you remember him right? Or am I showing my age...) It has been nonstop with making sure everyone sees us, actually Laith, they are polite about wanting to see us but it is all about the kid. Even my parents on Skype don’t want the camera on me! He has adapted well to new surroundings, freezing weather (although grumpy about it at first) and wearing shoes for the first time (after Sam and I broke a sweat putting them on...yes really)
It has been wonderful seeing him with his cousins and loved ones, growing slowly accustomed to new faces and places. Winter wonderland, done, Natural History and Science Museum, done. Big Christmas tree done, overload of presents, done, overload of sugar and treats more than done, snotty cold, done and a shedload of attention , done. (I sound like Gordon Ramsey). Trust me when you have so much to do and so many to see you literally have a list in your head you check off. For Sam and I it was GBK, Mangal kebabs, Starbucks, customary nightout wiht the boys and a hangover from hell, many girls dinners and wine for me in return... spa treatments (yes him too), Hyde and Holland park, pub grub, mulled wine, a bit of snow, seeinold schoolmates, staying up all night watching nothing on TV (literally as our Sky stopped working) and going for walks on the high street (which we don’t have in Sa and we do miss it!)
It has been great but exhausting and I am sitting here on Boxing Day looking back on the year with a little bit of amazement at how my mind-set has changed 360 degrees. I left to Durban in tears and continued to do so for a few months. Now I feel it is home. A dear friend of mind moved to NYC last year and when I said to her I too was leaving London but was going with the attitude that it is a long vacation she laughed at me and told me I was fooling myself and that it was a life change. Trish you aren’t just a pretty face! We are very lucky as it has been the most worthwhile life change, and being in London makes it all the more apparent.
We miss our friends and family desperately but we have adapted to an outdoor lifestyle on a small beach village more than we realised. I love London for the museums and parks, proper pubgrub, Heinz baked beans and salad cream (yes I have put a few in the suitcase) and most of all I love it for you folks.
But I miss Durban.THe ladies I have befriended, the little man's friends, the everyday people you encounter going about your daily chores.You will never in your life encounter such friendly, kind, helpful and child loving people than you do in SA.coupled with the weather and outdoor healthier lifestyle we hopefully can't go wrong.
Love you all
Until next year....
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