Expat
Long haul to the unknown
Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008
Matthew is in the US again this week. Between business meetings he is driving around San Jose and environs looking for a place for us to live. He will rent us a place without me seeing it and although the company that is offering him this contract offered to fly us all out to visit, the only thing worse than moving into a house sight-unseen that has been rented by your spatially-unaware husband (’it didn’t look like a box room when I viewed it’) is flying twelve hours with three children under six and a new baby unless you absolutely have to.
I am so hiring a nanny to accompany us on the flight when we move.
I have had two months to come to terms with this move and the bit I am dreading most is the flight. On a recent trip back from San Francisco, Matthew sat behind a family with three small children and nary a peep was heard out of them. Great, I said. Yes it was, Matthew replied. So you asked them how they did it, right? I asked. Um…, he trailed. Men! (Although it’s okay, it’s certain to have been Phenergan because I know about these things. It was the first thing I Googled, right after ‘Silicon Valley bloggers’. Because this moving lark, it’s all about getting your priorities right.)
So Matthew will rent us a house and I will love it. Love it, ya hear?
And if one of the rooms turns out to be a boxroom, well you know where Matthew will be sleeping.
Subscribe Via Email OR
Subscribe Via RSS
OR
6 Comments »
Posted in Expat
A sense of place
Monday, July 14th, 2008
It’s early May. The baby is seven weeks old and I have surprised myself with how easy I am finding it, how well I am coping. It’s a fragile balance though, I feel the need to remind myself, mindful of how insidiously post-partum depression can creep up on you. A couple of bad nights, bad behaviour from the children, trouble with homeschooling, sickness or any of those routine things that go with having a family can quickly turn happy days into something a lot less pleasant.
But no, I sit with my coffee, older children working on their maths, toddler engrosed in a jigsaw puzzle, baby asleep in his swing chair. Beautiful children, with their heads bent in concentration, the days passing in a blur of busyness and fun. Not only that but I have the easiest baby ever. I live in a lovely house in what must surely be one of the most beautiful places in England. I have a wonderful support network of friends, mothers who understand what life is like with a new baby in the house, friends I have known for years rather than just months. Both my parents and my sister and her children live close by and I love being able to see them regularly, to be part of their lives. I’ve lived here longer than I’ve lived anywhere and it has been wonderful to put down roots, to finally think of somewhere as home.
All is well, I think.
Until Matthew comes home and tells me he thinks we should move.
Five thousand miles away.
************
Where are we going? Well let’s just say that I will be a regular reader of the SVMoms blog from now on.
It’s not that I wouldn’t like to live there, I would. It’s just that it’s not here…
Subscribe Via Email OR
Subscribe Via RSS
OR
10 Comments »
Posted in Expat