It has been a busy week
for us. We left Leicester, England at 2am on Monday, June 7th, 2010.
After a two and a half hour taxi ride we arrived at London Heathrow,
where we waited a half hour in line for the check in desk to open. By
5am we were checked in and headed through security. It went smoother
than I thought it would, considering the children had never
experienced this before. Three belts, two laptops, and 8 bags later
we were through and waiting again. We had a little bit of English
money on us, so we took turns going to the shop and everybody got a
new book and snacks. I bought overpriced water with the left over and
then it was time to board. I don’t know what was different about
this flight, maybe it was the early morning hour (7:55am), but
boarding was a quiet, non-rushed affair. We went straight back to our
seats and stowed our bags, and there was no bustling, pushing,
frustrations that I have experienced in other flights that I have
taken. It was a blessing.
Our flight was uneventful
(thank goodness!). The children sat together in front of us, Cale by
the window for the first four hours, Briony by the window for the
second half. We arrived a little early, and because we were the last
off the plane, we were the last on the shuttle/people carrier thing –
and the first off and into the baggage claim. Our bags were already
off the conveyor belt, so we loaded them up on carts and went to
There was a really nice guy at
immigration, and we got through quickly. Our flight had been due to
land at 11:09am, and because of customs and immigration, I had
advised my dad and sister to not get there before 11:30. Because we
had landed early and everything went so smoothly, we were coming
through the gate just as they got there. Heather and dad introduced
themselves and we went to the cars. Dad drove Nid back and Heather
drove the children and I back. It was weird, sitting in my car,
talking about normal stuff with my sister. It was as if I had never
left.
We drove straight to our house, and
that was a really weird feeling. Dad and Heather had been working
really hard to get it into shape, and we had seen photos of the in
progress work, but never having seen the place we were going to be
living was strange. I asked the children if it would be okay for Nid
and I to go in first, and they said it was. We left them outside with
dad and Heather and had a look around. It is a small house, but it is
all that we need. It gets us in the best school area around, and
three miles from my parent’s house (one mile of which is our
driveway). I had left quite a bit of furniture with mom and dad when
I moved, and dad had worked with me about what we needed to start,
and had moved things in for us.
The children took showers and we went
to my parents house for dinner. Mom had gotten the kids their
all-American LLBean backpacks for school, and packed them with
clothes, pens, paper, stationary, etc for them to use until our
belongings arrive. I went upstairs and saw my cat, Smudge. She seemed
hesitant at first, but quickly warmed up to me. The children and Nid
came up later and she warmed up to them as well. We had decided that
she would come to live with us after we had settled in a bit and
weren’t running in and out all the time. I helped dad feed the
dogs, and Bearette didn’t bark at me like she does to strangers,
but she didn’t care much about me, either. I need to go up at a
non-feeding time and see how she does. While were visiting mom and
dad, my friend Penny called their house to see if we were there and
we talked for a few minutes. We’d chatted via IM and email while I
was away, but talking in person was great.
We came back to the house and got ready
for bed. By 9pm, we were all in bed, as our bodies were still on UK
time, which was 2am. In order to combat jet lag, I wanted to make
sure we got on a regular EST schedule as soon as possible.
I woke up at 4:30am and could not fall
back asleep. I showered and got dressed and sat out on our deck . It
starts getting light just after 5am, and I got a pad of paper and pen
and started writing out lists of things to do, things to get, things
to move from my parent’s house to our house. It was quite cool out
and I could hear the bull frogs at the pond and the birds in the
trees. There was a little female Cardinal that kept landing on the
deck near me, and I can’t help but think she must have a nest
nearby, as there was definite purpose to her actions. The family
started stirring around 9am, and our day began.
The rest of the week was filled with
errands – bank paperwork, obtaining library cards, shopping trips
to Wal-Mart (three of them), cleaning, hauling furniture, washing
dishes that had been in storage for the last 15 months. We kept busy,
and were in bed by 9pm most nights.
Saturday mom and dad hosted a
picnic/party for us. A lot of the people from the wedding were there,
family and friends from the area. My friends Tammy and Michael came
from Richmond, and Catherine and David (with sons Joshua, Matthew &
Philip) came from Amelia. It was so great seeing them again, as I
hadn’t seen them since the wedding. My friend Penny came with her
son JT, who is 12, and soon they were playing soccer together. The
children got to meet all of the local extended family. They also got
to enjoy a thunderstorm and Virginia cookout food. We also had a
surprise visitor at the party. Nid’s friend David from Kentucky
drove all the way up to welcome us home. David and Nid first met in
person when David came up for our wedding. It was completely
unexpected, but a wonderful surprise!
Sunday the heat (100+ degrees F) was
finally getting to us, so we broke down and bought an air conditioner
that doesn’t quite cool the whole house, but it knocks out some of
the humidity.
