My Last Post Here.

This is my last post from England. I have created a new blog for our lives in Virginia. I have toyed with making it private because it may give away more about our lives, for the benefit of the kids' family here in England. It is still a work in progress, but despite the fact that I've been working on it for months, I just ran out of time. You can see it here: Across The Pond And Back Again (tentative title).

We've had a busy week here.

Nid had a going away do at La Tosca on Wednesday a week ago with his best mates: Martin, Petros, Pravin and Matthew.

 

 Then on Saturday he went to The Coronation pub with all his football mates. They came and went, but these ate dinner together: Utpal, Mitul, Hiren, Lou, Lee, Dharmesh and Pravin.

Sunday he went to visit our friends Utpal and Sejal, who live in London but had come up so Utpal could go to Nid's dinner. He got this cute picture with Utpal and baby Perissa:

Tuesday we went to town for the last time, and we went to the Market. We talked to a record guy who use to work in Richmond, near where I use to live. He started a brewery there and loved the area and wished us the best. It was a pretty weird coincidence. We finished getting Nid's football kit for when he finds a team in the US, as prices here seem to be so much better. We also got him this cool hat:

Tuesday night Nid and I went out with our friends Matthew and Jacqui in town. We met at The Globe, which is the only pub Nid and I had ever been to, and the first place the four of us ever went when I first moved here. We sat in the "snug" because the music was too loud in the rest of the place. We'd only been there a very short time when hippy drummers started piling in, giving us looks, saying they met there every Tuesday night, and telling us how loud it was going to get. At first it was one, two, three.... and then it was 10 or 15 of them and they were all looking at us like we were putting them out. I got up and said "thanks for ruining my last night out in England" and walked out. I was really upset, but managed to not cry until we had found another place to go. I'm sure part of it was stress, part of it really was that that was "our" place too, and why did they not reserve it? If it was not reserved with signs, I feel it should have been first come first serve. But what do I know? I also was not feeling well. I am pretty sure I have acid reflux disease, which can be caused by diet, stress, and various other things that all apply to me. I've had some very unpleasant symptoms, and eating before going out really made me feel horrible. I had about two sips of one of Nid's beers, but couldn't bear to think about drinking anything. It was a real bummer. Nid took some pictures with his phone. Boy, do I look rough:

Wednesday night I went with Nid to his last football game with The Cobblers. I took a bunch of photos, but because it was late, daylight went quickly and the artificial light played havoc on my camera. I did get this great team photo right before the game:

Thursday was a marathon packing session. It's those last minute things that really hang me up when it comes to packing. We were up until 3am Friday morning, and then up again at 8 Friday to finish up. The shipping company was due between 10 and 12 and they were here about 10:30. Our stuff was pulling out by 11:40. I hope we see it again some day... please don't sink ship!

See ya in 4-6 weeks baby!

 Just kidding :)

We ended up going back to town to get something for my niece that I did not get on Tuesday. Then we came back home and crashed. It had been a long couple of days. Saturday we were going to go out to Gorse Hill City Farm, but Nid also had to go and visit some friends and neighbors to say goodbye. Between the heat, having to go to the grocery store, and visiting people, we were too tired to go to the farm as well. I was a little sad because they have these baby lambs there that looked so darn cute on their website, but it was two buses and a walk and I just couldn't manage it.

Now it is Sunday and we just got a call that John and Ann will be here in about an hour with the children. They spent the week with them in Wales. Today is either going to go too quickly or drag by because we don't really have anything to do. We'll go visit the couple at the corner shop later to say our last goodbye. Nid was down there the other day and got this picture with Subhash. He and his wife, Kirti, own the shop and have been very good to Nid over the years.

The landlord and his family are coming round at 10pm tonight to say their goodbyes. They lived in this house when Nid moved in across the street in 1996. When they moved out in 2006, Nid moved in, so they have a long history with the family.

I have lots more to do today before we lose internet. We won't have anything at our new house for a while, so I need to take advantage of what I have now. Thank you all for being interested and following along on my blog this last year or so.

Cheers!