Family and Friends

I have come to the conclusion that having more time on my hands to ponder instead of waking up with a 'to do' list in my head is a double edged sword.

We have spent many of our recent Christmas Days away from the UK over the last few years, skiing, Wales and Cyprus, but with the thought of a return to the UK only ever a few days away I can conclude that I have never really switched off from everyday thoughts and life. When booking those trips away in the past I have done it with a nonchalant attitude to not seeing certain family members and friends over the Christmas period. But when we hooked up on Christmas Day via Facetime with those very people, I found myself missing them terribly. It was the first Christmas Day that we were not with Sam (had to happen at some point I guess) and seeing our parents with their Christmas hats and glasses of bubbly was a tug to my heart.

But in the cold light of Boxing Day, with the sun shining again and another Christmas dinner in store at my Aunty Pat and Uncle Chris' house, perspective rules again. As Dee sits next to me on her laptop and I sit here typing she quietly comments "what would we do without our technology?" I couldn't agree more :). It has enabled us to have some wonderful emails and virtual meet ups with those we love. Tears and smiles from Vicky with a promise to look at flights to Cyprus in the next couple of days :)

So a  swim in the med on Christmas day with Daniel Craig, sunbathing to warm up afterwards and then drinks by the pool upon our return is what I will choose to remember about yesterday. Dad and Dee put on a fantastic day for us and we opened presents up and watched the SCD Christmas Special, so all was well with the world. Tradition eh!!!

We will lose our hire car next Tuesday, so Mike and I will go to the local farmers market tomorrow, see my cousin Graham play and sing  in a local bar in the evening, have a meal with friends on Sunday and off to Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus on Monday to make the most of the car. Then it is buses and walking for us. To be honest, Mike could do with the exercise, he is growing a food baby.... I am in serious trouble now :)

I promised myself Christmas off from thinking and doing too much, but activity calls and over the next couple of days I will begin to plan our travels. In true 'drive Mike mad' Michelle style, I will research and put together an itinerary that my friends will sigh and roll their eyes with a "typical Michelle" aside. Oh yes, New Years Eve around the corner now. Don't worry, we have so many sparklers you will be able to see us all the way from the UK :)

Reverse Reverse!

From the lyrics of 'Cha Cha Slide', it is time for Taz to reverse, reverse.... Yes, there will be a packed suitcase by the front door in Cyprus today winging it's way back to the UK Sunday morning with my son! For those of you who don't know Taz well, as soon as he sees a suitcase he reverses away from it in despair. I feel like I want to do the same :(

Sam is homesick and unhappy, what can you do? So my poor mum will have him for Christmas and we won't see him again until the end of March. I cannot lie, we wish he would stay until New Year's Eve as originally planned but as he constantly reminds us... "I am 19"!!! So Sam had his Christmas present last night and I will make him endure the Strictly Come Dancing Finals tonight with a smile on his face, I may even make him dance :)

You may have noticed in my husband's blog, mikedevitt.blogspot.co.uk, that the 'yellow thing that shall not be named' deserted the sky yesterday afternoon and was replaced with the wet and grey stuff that is so familiar in the UK! It was chilly. However, I could still be seen in my cut off trousers, t-shirt and ray bans walking Taz around the block... positive thinking. The 'yellow thing that shall not be named' is back this morning and you never know, we might actually make it to the beach with Taz, which believe it or not is only a mile and half away and we haven't been there yet.

We were in our local supermarket yesterday and we felt like true Brits abroad, working out the conversions from Euros to Sterling and wondering if we really should pay 4 euros for Marmite. On the opposite end of the scale we were smiling with glee as we loaded our trolley with amazing (very cheap) fruit and veg - it has soil on it! Is that really where fruit and veg comes from :)

Sam and I took a drive to Ayia Napa with Taz last night for a trip down memory lane- Sam's 'lads' holiday Summer 14. He took photos of a deserted strip and showed me his very run down hotel. It is a ghost town at night, but during the day has a new charm that you would never see in the height of the summer season.

Taz is clearly on the new time zone because he is looking at me longingly for his morning walk, so kalimera (didn't take long did it) and come on Flackers (SCD again :))

Blip

Quote from Sam: Is that the whole of your life in 4 suitcases? Where is the rest of your stuff?

The ending comes first.... We are on the plane! Taz is below us in cargo and I am amazed that Mike and Sam are still talking to me.

After a night in a luxury, no expense spared Etap hotel at Birmingham airport arriving at midnight, with 6ft 2 Sam sleeping in a bunk bed above our heads and Taz keeping us awake all night pacing the room, you can imagine how refreshed we were when we started our day at 5am.

Left Taz in his travel cage at Worldwide cargo (munching on his denta treat) seeming very content, we handed back the hire car and headed for departures with our 4 suitcases and 3 hand luggage. An hour later, £100 short, the fourth case will be winging it's way to Cyprus via DHL and may make it in time for Christmas (if Santa Claus really did exist... Sorry kids). Underwear strewn across the floor and very stressed Devitt's, we made it to our gate with 20 minutes to spare. I even managed to buy a fluffy pink jumper (thank you Mrs V) from Next.

Complaint duly made to Monarch in classic pitbull Michelle style and we will await the outcome. Mike reminded me as I felt like crying when I sat down on the plane, that this was just a blip in what has been months of planning. Hmmm he is right sometimes but don't tell him. But why do you think Mike and Sam don't want to speak to me?......Yes you guessed it, I embarrassed them. Not in the Vicky Whitehead 0 to 90 mph style but with a question posed to the pilot of the plane (via cabin crew). Question: "does the pilot know there is a dog in the cargo hold and will it be heated and oxygenated?" Mike and Sam were cringing but I really didn't care. I hope he is alright down there :(

How is it that Juniper Close already feels so distant (albeit very clean and empty), thank you Mum and John? I think it is because life is always moving forward and as I think of the ladies in the tech dept at work teaching food tech, textiles and product design, I am already gone and everything has moved on. Not missing the cleaning and sewing but definitely missing the lovely ladies. Kerrie - hope the Year 9s were not too ghastly period 1 this morning?

The sun is shining up here above the clouds... A measure of times to come. With a private rooftop balcony where we are staying in Cyprus, I do not anticipate the usual bikini lines :) Christmas seems like an aside in our timeframe at the moment but you can't get away from it... ba humbug, so swimming in the med on Christmas Day (if it makes you feel any better, the water will be chilly) and then Christmas dinner in the afternoon at Dad and Dees. BBQ on New Years Eve and then I start my next project... The itinerary for our travels in Feb and March. No rest for the wicked :)

Don't forget to check out Mike's blog at mikedevitt.blogspot.co.uk as he has already written 3 and they are way better than mine!!!

Keep dancing Kim, Glenn, Janet and Dave and see you on FaceTime on Saturday for the SCD finals... Don't drink too much at the pub!

Nothing Compares.....

So the blogging begins with this inaugural  blog and I am feeling the pressure!

Let's start with the title of this blog which I have chosen for more than one reason:
Yup, you've got it, nothing that I blog will compare to Mr Michael Devitt's blog... find it at mikedevitt.blogspot.co.uk. He has set us up as rivals (as you will see from his first blog) and well let's face it, he does want to write for a living because he wasn't very good at IT. I cannot tell you how many times I had to provide IT support in our house :). So no, my blog will not compare for wit and imagination :(

The other (far more important) reason for my choice of title is a re-occurring thought that has crept into my head on more occasions than I choose to mention in the last couple of weeks. I am sure that wherever our travels take us over the next 9 months and whatever we experience, none of it will compare to the warmth, love and care that Mike and I have felt from our family and friends over the last few months.

From leaving parties and drinks to offers of lifting and cleaning, from tears of sadness to messages of luck and happiness, it has been overwhelming. Maidstone Grammar school for Girls has been a bedrock of support since May and I am truly lucky to call many of my (now ex) work colleagues as friends. It was time to move on but the school will live very fondly in my memory.

Our parents are amazing... what would we do without them - I actually don't know. Leaving the best Mum in the world behind will be heart breaking, but as I keep reminding her (although I don't think she believes me), we WILLbe back in 9 months and I know she will visit the sunny island of Cyprus to see us. I wish John all the patience and understanding in the world, thank you for looking after my Mum :). I am lucky to count my parents-in-law as special as any parents could be and I will miss them for sure. Going on to spend some time with Dad and Dee will be wonderful and we are already relying on them heavily to help us out in our first month away from the UK... not to mention Tazzie sitting!!!!

I have 2 of the best friends in Nicky and Vicky but no emotion allowed!!!! They are trying hard but failing miserably. Nicky (and Bob of course) has been part of our lives for around 25 years and are family to us. They are always there for us, what more can I say apart from make sure you visit Mrs V, I need to take you snorkeling again :)

Vicky - I can barely speak to her without tears in our eyes. Dog walker, party best friend, drinking buddy, shoulder to lean on, storage for our furniture and just about anything else we ask of her. It's been a mammoth year my love, here's to 2015!!!

So Taz is ready to become an international jet-setter in his flying cage, Sam is going to tag along for 2 weeks and then return to university in Nottingham and as Vicky told me the other day, Mike and I will have each other... HELP!!!

I will do my up-most to blog regularly and make it much more upbeat and fun than this one, but it had to be done.

Will miss you all more than I ever realised... why am I so surprised??