The Countdown is Really On

Hi Family and Friends,

 

In the last month of our Nicholson Family UK Adventure, we find ourselves reflecting on our stay and taking everything in - even trips to the supermarket - there won't be any sheep on our trip to Zehrs back in Guelph!

 

We have very mixed feelings on leaving. We are really excited to get back onto Canadian soil and see our family, friends and our house in Guelph that we only lived in for 3 weeks before coming to England. We (okay, mostly Mark) sometimes forget what it looks like:) And it'll be nice not to be living on our 'Gap 8 months' budget with Mark returning to work full-time.

On the other hand, we are really, truly going to miss living in New Mills and England. It's been so great seeing so much of our UK friends and family here and meeting new friends too. I've also really gotten into the Stay-at-Home-Mum groove and I have all sorts of mixed feelings about looking for a new job when I get back (I wish Toronto wasn't such a crap commute!).

I'm feeling the stress of moving again when I look at all our stuff and wonder how the H-E-double-hockey-sticks we are going to get it all back? We purposely brought clothes with us that we'll leave here and we're also posting some stuff back to ourselves like Gemma's baby clothes that no longer fit and our Christmas stockings. We're looking into options with Air Transat who we're flying back with in regard to excess baggage. We looked into upgrading our flights to 'club class' for Mark and I, but didn't realize it was their name for first class and we wouldn't want to leave Liam in economy:) It would be way too much for all of us to travel 'club class'.

We're also trying to squeeze everything in while we're still here - visits with friends and family, trips to Ireland, the Lake District and Italy, and of course, one last trip to Thomas Land for Liam. We've been telling Liam since we went the first time that we will go again before we move back to Canada as our transition for him so that trip is a must. Plus, I wouldn't mind going on some of those rides again:)

Things We'll Really Miss:

• Being so close to UK Family and Friends
• The Milk Man
• The Beautiful Scenery of the Peak District and Derbyshire
• Liam's New Friends from Nursery - Liam asked if he could bring Rowan with us:)
• The Children's Centre - I just don't think Ontario Early Years will be the same
• Mark's 'Mr. Canada' Supply Teaching Gig - he's really enjoyed his time teaching here - Special Edition Mark Blog Post Coming Soon!
• Sky Plus - it's like having free PVR
• Sky Atlantic - it's like having free HBO ('Entourage' is Mark's 'show')
• Our local Chippy - best Fish 'n Chips
• Hilly New Mills - I hated the hills at first, but pushing the pram up them got me in really great shape
• Great Train Service
• Great Football (soccer) Coverage
• Comedy on the Tele (Mark will miss his 'Mock the Week')

Things We're Really Looking Forward to:

• Seeing our dog, OD (try to hold in your excited pee when you see us)
• Seeing Family and Friends
• Proper Tim Hortons Coffee - Spar Timmers is just not the same :(
• Proper Timbits - Mummy's banana muffin 'timbits' just aren't the same either
• Getting Our House Set Up - for us this time as opposed to renters
• Swiss Chalet - do you think we can request a Festive Special in April? No?
• Dairy Queen Blizzards - oh yeah!
• Our Subaru - we miss you 2002 Impreza Outback Sport, please work for us when we get home
• Having a Local Bank - Mark has an HSBC account through work and there isn't a branch in New Mills. And bank charges here are ridiculous 
• Getting Cash from an ATM (and not Mark) - I didn't bother getting a bank card through Mark's account so he's been my sugar daddy this whole time
• Making Proper Salaries Again - Mark's supply work has been random and my mat leave benefits finished shortly after we arrived in the UK so it will definitely be nice to bring home the bacon again
• Buying 6 Tins of Baked Beans in one go at the grocery store without shame

We are so thrilled that we had the kahunas to move to the UK for 8 months. We knew it wasn't too long or too short of a time. The stress, effort and expense to get my Visa and the kids' British passports was totally worth it. I will recommend an experience like this to anyone who has the opportunity. All it takes is a bit of a leap and some proper planning. I've already told two different women here who have been 'thinking' of doing something like this in Canada to just go for it and start planning. It's been such a great experience for all of us and at a time in our lives when we really needed it. There was some stress in the autumn when Mark wasn't working as much as we had expected, but we re-evaluated and reminded ourselves why we are really here - to enjoy the experience. We're already 'thinking' about when our next Gap Year can be and where it could take us:)

Tick Tock Tick Tock
Back in Canada in one month on 18th April.

Cheers,
The Nicholson Family