We're going home this week, I'm excited but I'm also beginning to feel a bit stressed. Those of you familiar with having 2 homes & commuting or even having a holiday home you use for long periods at a time will know the feelings I'm experiencing now. What do I need to take back with me? What do I need to remember to bring back with me when I come back to England?
Last time we were home (for us home is France, England is where my husband is currently working but it's rented & not home - probably the opposite to most people who are in this situation with a second home in France and their main home in the UK), I forgot my glasses which means I can't drive without them. We were almost at Beziers airport when I remembered they were in the kitchen, too late to turn round I sat quietly annoyed with myself for forgetting them.
This time I have a list of things I need to remember to bring back to the UK, No 1 - glasses No 2 - post pregnancy feeding tops No 3 - size 18m clothes for Izzy, No 4 - random paperwork I need to do including taxe foncieres & probably water bill...the list is growing.
I've already made Dr's appointments for me & the girls for their vaccines with our Dr, phoned the Pharmacy to order the vaccins & I'll have to go to the local laboratory for my monthly toxo tests (my Medecin wants to make sure I haven't been in contact with any cat poo or eaten too many steak tartare).
I don't know what to expect when we get home as we know there has been heavy rain & every year with heavy rain most of the houses in our village have some water influx, in previous years when we used to commute & the rain came during the week we couldn't actually tell if we'd had any in or not. I wonder if we'll be able to tell this time. Last year my hubby had to climb on the roof & re-arrange the tiles which had slipped over the previous winter & summer season's winds or because our cat has put on so much weight his sheer vast enormousness and clumsy footing moved them?
My list of things to remember is different to his, he worries about if there will be any DIY to do on his return home (no matter how short the stay is, there's always DIY) - last month we revarnished the wooden doors out to our roof terrace & generally cleaned it all up - looked lovely when we left it in bright sunshine - I wonder how it has weathered since then with the bad weather, I imagine my plants are grateful after a very dry summer.
One thing is for sure our trips home are never ever long enough to do everything we want to do, we'd love to see more of our friends and our children's friends but we just don't get time with all the Dr's appointments, repacking of stuff to go backwards & forwards with, paperwork & general administration, DIY and actually taking a few minutes to enjoy being back home.
Yes being home, one of the most luxurious moments is sitting on the sofa in our own living room with a nice cup of tea and chatting about how nice it is to be back whilst the kids play with their re-discovered toys. For them it is like Christmas all over again as they play with their kiddie kitchen, Noahs Ark, Lego & Trike. For us the joy of simply being home, the smell, the overwhelming feeling of tranquility & security is enough.
Our return goes too fast and before we know it we are frantically packing again to go back to England for work, I must remember the kids winter grobags (baby sleeping bags), another item I forgot last time, we're sure to need them soon.
Yes I'm looking forward to going home and I also know when the time comes I won't want to leave again...