With that said I need to pull out my finger and start to make arrangements for my month in the UK. Since it is next month I need to book 2 flights, touch base with my London peeps and start making some plans. So I have been looking up flights and trains and have sent messages to the UK. I try and do a lot of the flight leg work myself on the internet and then I shoot the bookings through to Beth or Bek at the office when I am ready to pay and get them to double check what I have found is the cheapest option. Since I have a standing Wednesday lunch date with The Gap office, I’ll get all that booked this week. How exciting to finally get an arrival date and time into Ethiopia and to let Zeme know.
Last week finished with Zoe’s birthday. She turned 7 and had 55 little people at her party. The Elkins have always known how to throw a party and the girls birthdays are always the piece de resistance. They are always themed, picked by the girls, and then Shelly works like a mad woman to get it all together on top of her busy days already. Nana makes the cakes (in the same theme) and they are always masterpieces that have been worked on all week if not weeks prior. The massive jumping castle got delivered and it was just too tempting to pass up a jump in there, so with shoes off, we all gave it a try out and had a bounce around in the ‘Scooby’ jumping castle. I can see the attraction for the kids but I can also see where injuries can also happen. It was a great day and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun. We (adults) consumed 12 bottles of champagne and the Elks had pre-ordered 20 pizza’s for dinner to feed the dinner round of people that stopped by. Yes this is all for a 7 year old party, just imagine what her 18th birthday is going to be like!!!! So Happy Birthday to my beautiful eldest god-daughter. I remember holding you 30 minutes after you were born and now here you are a stunning, good natured, kind hearted little girl. I am very proud to have you as my god-daughter.
I am starting to finally get my bearings back driving around Brisbane. Besides some of the major upgrades on the main roads, everything else is exactly the same. There were a few houses getting reno’s or being built that have now been completed, some shops have changed but otherwise not much has altered in my absence. I can’t express enough how good it feels to have my own set of wheels when I need and to be able to just jump in a car. I have ‘lost’ the car a few times in the car parks of shopping centers as I am always looking for my little ‘Discover’ car I used to drive or Shane’s car that I have borrowed a few times. I feel like a bit of a wally walking around looking for the wrong car. But I always find it in the end and the flashing unlock lights are always a help.
The girls have been back at school all this week. I was so lucky that I got them for my first 2 weeks on school holidays and the house seems so quite without them here. Tessie learnt about the letter Z at school the other day and when they were asked for words that started with Z she popped up her hand and said Zeme. When asked what that word was she explained that Zeme was my Auntie’s African boyfriend. How cute!!! The teacher was impressed and learnt a new name. Next week for their show and share they have to tell the class about something new that they learned from a family member. When Shelly asked Tessie what she thought she might do she said ‘what about Ethiopia’ from Auntie Bernie. Oh they are so precious.
After going through all the clothes and ‘stuff’ I have left at The Elks I have found that I really don’t have the need to buy a lot of clothes for my return. Clothing is a big issue for me as they don’t have clothes in my size in Ethiopia, well that I had seen on my previous 2 trips, so I wanted to make sure I have enough of everything for the move. There were still some clothes that had tags on them that didn’t make the cut from the last trip, and all the other clothes that were left behind. The one thing I do need was shoes. I don’t need many pairs to go back but I am a massive Croc’s fan and I had 3 different styles that lasted me my whole Odyssey, or nearly made it the whole trip. Now when you say Croc’s, people think of those ugly plastic shoes with the covered toes with those ghastly holes. They were the first generation of Croc’s and even though I never owned a pair of them, I had tried them on and they were so comfortable. So I was happy when they decided to expand their shoe range and make other styles, also out of plastic, but they are now groovy looking shoes and I swear on the comfort and versatility of them. I bought a pair in Ibiza in July last year and I wore them every single day in South America till they died in Paraty in February this year. I am sure they weren’t made for every day wear, 8 hours a day (and more) for 7 months. Those suckers got a work out that is for sure. I bought a pair of Croc’s in Paraguay to replace the ones I had bought from Australia 10 months earlier and I bought another pair in Canada in May just because I liked them. When I tell people they are Croc’s people are shocked as they just don’t look like the original daggy pair. Anyway there is a Croc shop at Chermside and I went in knowing I was going to buy a pair or two and ended up walking out with 4 pairs. I can justify the cost by knowing I will get my money’s worth out of them and besides a pair of court shoes and a pair of sneakers it will be all I need to take to Africa. I ‘heart’ Croc’s.
This week finished off under a personal darker cloud for me. I have been away from Zeme now for nearly 4 months and I am starting to really, really miss him. My daily messages are still coming and my weekly calls are still being made, but as much as I am enjoying my time at home, it is time to move onto the next chapter of my life. I feel I am talking so much about it all to everybody and now I am just ready to put it all into motion. I know my story seems too good to be true, and if someone told me the same story there would be a few bells ringing and it is so hard to explain to people that I just know that it is the right thing to do, move to Africa and be with the person I know is the one for me. People feel the need to tell me of ‘immigration’ horror stories that they have heard about African’s getting into our country and then doing a runner once their visas have been issued, or similar horrific stories of similar overseas scams. I know that people are just looking out for me and with all my feelings on the edge already as I miss Zeme every day, these comments this week have just worn me down. I just need to keep in mind the way I felt when I was with Zeme in my mind, what we spoke about when we were together and how right it felt. I am just going with an open mind and an open heart and if things don’t work out (which I know won’t happen) it doesn’t mean I have failed. My move to Africa is a permanent move for me no matter what happens but I just need to channel the concerns of my friends, keep them in mind and just run with what I think feels right.
So with all that said I am now in a better place for my trip to Darwin tomorrow. It will be a bittersweet reunion for me, a home coming that is long overdue and I wish I had more time to see more people while I am here, but the main reason for the trip is to pay my respects to my mum and have a week-end catching up with my ‘real’ family which will be a bit of a novelty for me with my Dad and stepmother in town over the weekend as well as meeting my half-brothers and their respective partners and kiddies. Something I never would have thought would happen, ever………
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