Final Chapter

It’s arrived – the day we leave America and make the long trip home to New Zealand after six months living in Bellevue just east of Seattle, Washington State. My very first blog post was easy to write with a hugely embarrassing accident in the Koru Lounge at Christchurch Airport, resulting in me bathed in orange juice and smelling of citrus at 6am, setting the tone. I’m hoping that I will not mark the end of our six months in America with a similar incident!

Have I enjoyed the last six months? Parts of it absolutely, parts of it to be fair, have been pretty difficult.

I’ve loved the smiles and polite chat from almost every shop assistant in almost every shop I’ve ever walked into. It is true that if you are feeling a little low, a smile and a little chat from a friendly stranger can make your day. I’ve loved the confidence I’ve gained catching buses, walking busy and unknown city streets, having to ask strangers for advice, and generally being out of my comfort zone 90% of the time! I’ve loved the few people I’ve gotten to know a wee bit more than warranting a passing ‘Good morning’ to and will miss them – Lorali who owns Lorali’s Optical and Lorali’s Closet on Poshmark; Stephen our Leasing Agent at Main Street Flats, Joe from Wellington New Zealand – yay; Li and David, very special people from Bellevue who have been so welcoming and friendly. I’ve loved being able to spend a wee bit of time with our niece Amy from Vancouver, her partner Tom and their cutie wee son Logan. I’ve loved sharing parts of our adventure with all our visitors – especially my three boys and Celine. Thank you all so much for all taking the long trip over here. But most of all I’ve loved being with my Hunter Gatherer (HG), just the two of us together.

On the flip side of the coin I’ve found living in a 3^rd floor apartment to be extremely lonely at times – some days I have gone 7am – 5pm having not spoken to anyone but myself. Speaking to oneself can be a dangerous habit to get into, and by the time HG’s gotten home I could have talked myself in and out of all sorts of situations – most of them a load of rubbish! I’ve missed the sound of lawnmowers and the smell of mown grass – and I’ve really missed pottering about in my garden. Surprisingly I’ve missed our dog and cat too! I can’t wait to get home to the house we built and shifted into six weeks before we left to come to America. I’ve not enjoyed missing my family and friends ….. without them around I’ve felt like a centipede with only two legs.

Well, it’s 5pm sitting in Vancouver Airport and I’ve not had any serious accident with any juice of any kind yet ….. The flight from Seattle was 25 minutes taxiing to take off and 25 minutes flying time – funny! The flight from Vancouver to Auckland is 13.45 hours – not funny! But hey, they’ve given me an upgrade to Business Class – and that’s not funny – it’s magic!!

Thanks for reading my blog – these empty nesters are returning to their nest.

Arriving into Vancouver

Happy?

Still had room for more!