Did I miss Christmas??

As you can no doubt imagine, I've been a bit preoccupied lately.

I've been stressing about the move - however must say I am now a lot happier about it; stressing about telling the kids; stressing about CHA; ... in general, just stressing!!

My body was starting to protest and I succumbed to a cold that had been hanging around home. I'm not sure why/how things started to improve, but they did. I think it just helps some time to surrender to the reality of a situation, admit there is no point holding on to the past or future dreams, and pray for strength and guidance to get through it!

So Christmas came and went with little fanfare this year. Christmas eve was nice, as we went to church and I made sausage rolls from scratch. I don't know what it is with sausage rolls - it's definately not a traditional Christmas food, but it has always been a tradition in my (parents) family. It felt good to make something that made me feel closer to "home".

Oh, on the "homefront" we told our families about our impending move. My dad ended up sobbing uncontrollably on the phone. I had to ring back a little later to make sure he was able to tell mum the news.

We told the kids on boxing day. MrT was fine. He just wanted to know if he could play footy at his new school. MsA, as expected, didn't take the news quite so well. All was OK though when she found out that we might be able to get a dog in our new home.

Giftwise, we were more conservative this year, as we knew we would spend big on our holiday. I probably received the most!! A new digicam for use on our US trip and $USD for personal spending (ie not for the kids or for work). WooHoo!

always the same: always changing!

How many times have I started a post with a comment along the lines of "how quickly things change"?

Yep, you guessed it. Major changes afoot. I think I just need to accept that the world keeps turning, presenting new situations all the time. There is no such thing as "being still".

Our news: we are moving back to Australia.
Let's just say that I was unprepared for this situation. I have finally (after 5 solid days) stopped crying.

The whole situation firmly put me back in the traditional expat family role of "trailing spouse". For the first few days I was constantly defiant and opposed every issue related to repatriating. All I could think of was that DH was thinking only of himself, he hadn't considered how it would impact the family. I saw nothing positive in making the move in the timeframe and conditions that work demanded.

Today I seemed to have turned a corner. I'm able to see positive aspects. I'm not as terrified as I was about how hard this will be for the kids. We have decided we will tell the kids at Christmas. It's going to be hard, as we don't have a definite schedule yet, and that will worry MsA. I've already broached the subject with MrT and he was fine.

I think I'm the one who is making a big deal out of it, and will have the toughest time!

It's a rainy, grey day. Yay!

Today the weather is dismal. It's been overcast and grey all day. I don't like having the lights on during the day (a frugal/penny-pinching quirk of mine), but today it has been necessary.
The rain didn't start until about 10am, and it seems to have set in. It looks like I won't get to the library to return our books after all (oh no, a fine! the penny pincher in me is really getting a workout today!).

I'm so loving the bad weather though. It's the kind of day that you just want to snuggle up in bed with a hot chocolate and read a trashy novel. We don't get days like this in Singapore. When it rains it is usually a tropical downpour. It clears quickly, the sun comes out, the humidity rises, and that's that. Today it is like early winter gentle showers in southern Australia.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want it to stay like this for a week or more (as has happened the last few years we have gone back to Oz for long school break). Just for now it is perfect. It was cool enough to indulge in a hot chocolate. I've had such a draining few weeks that this weather suits my mood perfectly ... and as strange as it sounds, seeing the mood/weather match is actually making me feel more positive and energetic. I'm ready to take on the world again!