Things are falling into place

It’s more than apparent that people like me need to be busy. And I don’t simply mean the expat me, I mean the Gemini, Type A (or is it another letter?), people oriented, get-up-of-your-bum, organizer, social person. Add expat in a non-expat environment into that and well, we all know how dangerous that’s been.

In hindsight (gotta love it) maybe I was rushing things a bit much. We’ve only been here 15 months. Takes time to settle in, work out the social structure, meet people, start a friendship, establish a friendship, discover what’s on offer and more.

So, 15 months into our 3^rd Adventure I’m feeling pretty good about things (about bloody time I hear you say!)

My CRB (police check) for Naomi House has finally arrived.

No skeletons in my closet, just several residential addresses over the past few years, (none of which were UK) to check, and the biggest stumbling block as the fact that I have had the same surname all my life.

The odd thing is that there was no question pertaining to marital status; so what a bold assumption that my name ‘would have’ or ‘should have’ changed.

None of that matters now as I have my CRB and can legally volunteer.

Just waiting for the Volunteer Co ordinator to contact me to work out what happens next. I’m hoping to be volunteering on Mondays in the fundraising department and on Wednesday mornings with the arts’n’crafts team.

The writing course I applied to last year has been postponed several times for a number of reasons, but I received confirmation last week that it’s finally starting first week in February. I’m so excited to start!

Ikebana is keeping me busy tho I’m not going every week this term.

Mid term is in a few weeks ( I KNOW! They've only been back 5 weeks) and I've reached out to friends and making plans in advance. We'll have a few pj days at home, a few days out'n'about with friends and before we know it, they'll be back for the second half of term.

I’m even toying with the idea of taking a course in ESL so that if/when we are in a non English speaking country for adventure 4 or beyond, I have the qualifications to teach English …… now I did say I was ‘toying with the idea’ so lets’ see how far I go with it.

Add into the week a walk or two, lunch with a friend, house guests, the monthly trip to Richmond or London plus the normal day to day stuff that one has to deal with, my weeks are looking pretty damn good compared to where they were late last year.

The inlaws are here from May - August, tho not with us the entire time. I'm starting to research where DH and I might go for a few nights while they enjoy time with MissM on the Isle of Wight during half term break (yep, another one in May). Also researching where the five of us might go for 10-14 days the first two weeks of the long summer break (mid July). So that's a few more days on the laptop searching.

Oh! I still have to finish our Japan Adventure photo albums. Might actually post this blog now and go prepare the dining table for a few days of work.

These past few months haven't been easy. Thanks for listening.

Thanks for the emails and/or comments. Your support and understanding (or confusion) is really appreciated.

With friendship

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