leaving

I am starting to realise what leaving will involve. I always knew that one of things I rely on a lot are my friends and family and this adventure will challenge us. The problem with challenges is that they can seem a good idea until you have to actually face them. I remember agreeing to absail down a very large waterfall in Australia, it sounded fun but when faced with a big drop and lots of water I was scared. I am also afraid of failing, I set off to climb Mont Blanc a few years ago and I never made it to the top, I had a heavy cold but part of me fears that I just couldn't do it.

It's very hard not to talk about the trip all the time, it's becoming a bit all consuming. We went out for dinner last night (very rare occurrence) and all we did was talk about how many pairs of trousers to take and which day we should fly. We need to remember to live in the now and enjoy what's going on around us, share our children's achievements and fun and stop boring our friends with stresses over shipping companies and which plates to take. There is an excellent poem by Helen Mallicoat called I Am (link below) which is reminding me to live in today, with God.
www.wowzone.com/iam.htm

Going Home

I still catch myself referring to my parent's house as home. We had a lovely time there this weekend. For those of you who don't know Wash House it can be cold in the winter but the wonderful garden makes it great when it's sunny! As we set off we realised that next time we're "home" will be just before we fly out of the UK in about 7 weeks. The photo was taken 2 years ago while we were playing croquet.

We met up with my school friends, which just like old times when we used to often have bar-b-ques round at mine. I'm not sure when we will all be together again as there are two families living abroad and we may not be back at the same time. Although a rendez vous somewhere half way between Australia and Africa sounds much more exotic, although less nostalgic. They were all talking about the next meet up, which will probably be at New Year, when we won't be there. Apparently this is the "leaving stage" of moving abroad, when you realise that life goes on after you move abroad.

the age of stupid

I have just watched this film. If everyone in the west watched it and did something about climate change we might be OK, otherwise the film suggests that we will make the human race extinct by 2055 - that's within our lifetime. The worst thing as individuals we can do is get on a plane. Maybe we should travel with our container on the boat? That would be an adventure or maybe take the beast (our 4x4) overland. That could be disastrous as neither the Dr or I are mechanically minded! I do recommend seeing the film, it's quite shocking but good entertainment too.

2 kids a Dr, 1 pushchair, 2 car seats ....

..... a trunki, 2 rucksacks, 1 big bag, a laptop, a camera, changing bag and my handbag ... and that's just the luggage for the plane! One friend suggested that the list above should be the title of my blog! We haven't quite booked our flights yet (that really does seem a bit final) although the container is booked. We will be easy to spot at the airport with all that. We have a choice of routes, either a short hop to Amsterdam, a long flight to Nairobi then onto Lilongwe or a journey to London (or Amsterdam) followed by a flight to Johannesburg and a flight to Blantyre. I'm not a big fan of flying I spend most of the time not asleep and going backwards and forwards to the loo. Although, that was before I became a mother; now, sleep is such a precious commodity maybe I will sleep all the way. We've had a bad couple of weeks for sleep, just as we get the reflux under control one child breaks her arm and the other has a few nights of fevers. Anyway I have plenty to think about while I'm awake in the night - like how many mosquito nets is enough and who has injections next week!

my family and other animals

The weeks are flying by and we seem no closer to getting organised. Just when I think that I have some child free time something happens. This week one of the children broke her arm (for the second time) she is OK but spent today sat on my knee instead of at nursery. She has also decided that she is ready to do potty training. I had given up on trying and thought that we would leave it until after 30 hours flying. However we seem to be back to front, she is great at poos on the toilet or potty but not wees! Anyway this does mean that we won't need to take quite so many washable nappies with us, which leaves more space for books and toys!

The 'doctor' is now a consultant. He has finished the day job (of being a registrar) and is now doing his research full time and one clinic for the NHS as a consultant. This is all a bit weird for those of us who have known him since his medical school days and see him in absent minded mode.

PMT

This is a different sort of PMT, it happens every Thursday and I look forward to it, I am not sure how I will manage without it when we go abroad. I may start a Malawi franchise. PMT stands for Prayers, Mums and Toddlers and it's made up of a great group of girls, who are all mums, have toddlers and need to pray. We also study a book together, one chapter a week.

Being a mum is hard but it would be so much more difficult without the girls. We make each other meals when babies are born, we played netball (for fun), there's always someone who has time for a coffee, between us we can loan any piece of baby or child equipment or clothes. There's always spare wipes or nappies or pants in case you forget to bring spares and there's someone who cares about your children and how many hours sleep you had. We try to pray for each other during the week and it makes the week easier.

nothing new

We have actually begun packing. The crystal glasses and some of the nice crockery have been boxed and taken up to Scotland, these are things we can manage without (so why are we keeping them?). It must have been different when my great-grandmother set off for India. She travelled (by boat) to meet her fiance who was not allowed to marry until he had passed his local language exams. They married in India and lived there until she and 2 children came back to the UK just before the outbreak of World War I. I wonder how much luggage she took? and her journey would have taken a lot longer. It makes our 3 flights look paltry!

In fact I have plenty of ancestors who worked abroad, from missionaries to scientists and clergy. Jim Field pictured above left worked for the meteorological office in India; Thomas Pearne (above right) was a well known Methodist preacher in the USA. Communication for them would have been slower, no text or e-mail. News would have been old by the time it reached the family back in the UK. I wonder if the sort of news coming back will be different.