Post Holiday Blue-ness

Technically speaking, I'm not sure if i even qualify for being allowed to have the Post Holiday Blues; I mean, I haven't 'officially' even been on a holiday. Nonetheless, i'm feeling it. To save time and to allow me to wallow just a little longer, let's just call it a Working-Abroad-Occupational-Hazard.

As i sit here, in my super attractive sweatpants, 26 thermal base layers and my trusty pair of uggs, I am reminded of two things; 1. that the irony of actually having a tan but having to cover it up with a million layers is almost unspeakable, and 2. that I never learnt how to turn on the central heating so I must sit here and contemplate life whilst watching my breath appear as vapour in front of my face. 

These two things alone account for majority of my post holiday blue-ness. That, and the pile of laundry that i have sitting in the middle of my floor, staring incessantly at me. 

I have now moved my freezing body complete with uggs into bed. Is that wrong at 4 o'clock on a Sunday afternoon? Actually don't answer that. Let's just say that as I haven't slept for the past 24 hours due to the taking 4 babies on a plane scenario, it's ok on this occasion. As i pull my duvet up to my chin and flick the switch for my beloved electric blanket, I glance out my window. It's almost completely dark outside! Um, when did winter happen? 

After speaking to a friend this afternoon, they told me that they'd read somewhere that the average recovery time for Post Holiday Blues is 8 days and 22 hours. Ahem, so if this theory is correct, and my mathematics hasn't failed me, I should be good to go, and back to my happy and cheery self next Tuesday at 2pm! Ha, watch this space.

And for those of you who see me before the blues have worn away, i apologise in advance!

Much love and loads of kisses xx

August in a Suitcase

So it seems that it's that time of year again > time to pack up and get myself some sunshine. Call it an occupational hazard if you will, but August for me generally means lots of travel! It means packing and unpacking, flying in and flying back out, a few days here and a few days there, and spending many a day at airports all over the world.

This time next week, it'll be time to fly away to the beautiful blue waters and long sunshiny days. As I am sitting here daydreaming of the sun on my shoulders, the beautiful sandy beaches and the cocktails at the bar, I am jolted back into sobering reality and am reminded that I shouldn't get too carried away as it is after all a 'working holiday'.

Last night, in preparation for my trip, I dredged through the attic to find myself a suitcase that would be suitable in both size and purpose. Sizeable enough to fit 3 weeks worth of clothes in, suitable for all different temperatures and pursuits; and it would have to be self-standing and easy to carry. Let's face it, at any given time, i'm likely to be carrying a child; whilst chasing child; whilst trying to open a water bottle for another child; whilst trying to answer the 56 million random (yet important) questions of another child. With 4 sets of little hands all vying for my attention, my luggage is going to want to be the least of my concerns. 

It is important that you realise however, that i have decided against attaching leashes to all my little people throughout our many airport stints. I think that i'm going to have to rely on my 'death stare' tactic, one that has historically proved to be quite successful amongst small humans. And then, if we make it through the airport with the same number of little people we started with, there is the dilemma of trying the contain these little people in their own seats for 10 hours! I'm exhausted and the hard work technically hasn't even begun yet...

So wish me luck on my little August Adventure! And if my general travel record continues with sustained vigour, no doubt come September, I will have many more (probably traumatic and amusing) tales to tell! 

Much love and loads of sunshine. Have a safe & happy Summer all you Northern Hemispherians out there. See you in September for a wine & a bit of much needed grown-up, intellectual conversation   xx

Your mountain is waiting...

I don't know about you, but my first response to change isn't always that of wide open arms & reckless abandon. I am the kind of girl who loves a good routine and is pretty happy to have a 'plan' for everything > just ask my flatmates! They joke that at times, i even need a plan to make plans. Go figure...

Anyway, earlier this year, I received a phone call that would be certain to change my working world forever. I had been in London for 9 years and had found myself in a super beautiful, very comfortable and totally amazing job. Then one unsuspecting January day, i was offered a new, daunting yet exciting, demanding yet inviting job. In all honesty, my first response was to say no (because that would be easier & far less complicated), but then something in me started wondering if change was actually something my life was in need of. Despite being totally freaked out about the prospect of leaving my lovely, safe job, I took a few moments to articulate what I wanted my life to look like over the next few years.

After much thought and consideration, I decided that even though it was going to be a serious shock to my very relaxed system, I knew I needed to embrace the change that was set before me. I couldn't quite get my head around the logistics of changing jobs, nor could i completely understand the poignantly bittersweet feeling of leaving a job I absolutely adored. All I knew is that I was ready for a new challenge.

I tearfully resigned my beloved post and signed a new contract.

And now I find myself on the eve of this fabulous new frontier. Looking at this (freaking) massive journey set before me, wondering what on earth I have done. And is it here I need to keep reminding myself that my mountain is waiting, and it is well and truly time to get on my way! So off i go, one step at a time, on this new journey of mine.

I don't know what the future holds, but one thing i do know is that I am glad that i took the leap of faith and embraced the opportunity set before me. No doubt, the road will not always be straight, and sometimes it may seem more uphill than down, but oh, the adventures i'm set to have!

Can't wait to see the view x

Anaïs Nin: “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom”

What will our children say

I remember ever so fondly the long road trips taken with my family. We used to strap our 'boogie' boards to the roof and float between seaside towns of beautiful Australia during the glorious sunshiny days of summer. 

On a side note > i actually think they were called Body boards, but the coolness, or lack thereof of the McBride clan meant that we always knew them as Boogie Boards. Please don't judge me, take it up with my parents.

Photo

The anticipation of visiting new and exciting places led to the overused and often sigh inducing question, 'Are we nearly there yet?' Of which the record for best use was me at about 2 minutes into the 6 hour journey and having not even left our street. Needless to say, that phrase was banned from all car trips from that point on. 

But what defined our road trips was the continuously repeated, not super appreciated, music of the parents. In our car, we had 6 cassettes on rotation. We had Neil Diamond, Elton John, Billy Joel, The Carpenters, Bee Gees and some representation from the Beatles. And until the year we all got walkmans for Christmas, we were subject to this extreme punishment of old school songs for hours on end.

Saying this, hindsight allows me to see that most of these songs were actually not bad at all. Lyrically, some were even beautiful!

Let me give you a few super sweet & ultra touchy feely examples...

'I'm all out of love, what am I without you
I can't be too late to say that I was so wrong' - Air Supply

'I can see clearly now, the rain is gone,
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It’s gonna be a bright (bright), bright (bright)
Sun-Shiny day'. - Johnny Nash

'I'm, I'm so in love with you
Whatever you want to do
Is alright with me' - Al Green

'When you're weary, feeling small
When tears are in your eyes,
I will dry them all
I'm on your side'  - Simon & Garfunkel

And this brings me to my next point. I have the stress...er...privilege of driving 4 little boys to school most days. I do often wonder how the music we listen to in the car shapes their opinion of modern day society.

Kings of Leon got me into a little trouble with 'Sex on Fire'. I didn't fancy the explanation of this one so every time the word sex came up in the song, I sang 'socks' very loudly. So for a little while, I had the whole car load rocking out to "you, your socks are on fire". They did think it was weird to sing about burning feet, but hey, why would i lie?!

Lady Gaga got me into similar strife after being asked what is a disco stick and why would you want to ride one? As did Katy Perry and her girl kissing antics and LMFAO with a very strong opinion of themselves. Once again, the boys wanted to know what 'passion in my pants' meant. And of course, the oh so humble...

'(Ahhhh) Girl look at that body, 

I-I-I work out' 

I am not saying our music is morally corrupt nor am I taking any particular stance on the merit of modern music, I am simply wondering what on earth our children will think of us 30 years down the track.

I suppose we will just have to wait and see. 

x