The long journey abroad

I'm working remotely this week. There's no updates about either Schmoo or Bean as they are safe and sound back at home with Grandma Lady. I have packed up and flown east to meet Papa in England to be with Nana this next week. Grandad's funeral is set for Tuesday and we will spend the rest of the week helping Nana get things organized. It feels good to be here - despite the gale force winds and miserable wet weather. I am so thankful for Grandma Lady returning from Mexico to enable me to come without the kids, as a trip with both of them was out of the question.

Anyways, I've arrived safely at Nana's house today after a long 3 day journey. At certain points, I thought I was living a chapter in Grandma Lady's life, as dramatic adventures tend to find her on her journeys. Friday was a long and trying day. To make a long story short.....my flight from home to Vancouver got cancelled, so with 8 hours to spare before my flight from Vancouver to London, I chose to keep driving. I thought I had enough time. The roads were slow, with rain and fog along the way but when it only took me 5.5 hours to get to Hope, I was laughing. I thought the hard part was over. And then I hit Vancouver traffic. After many conversations to Auntie V, who tried to direct me along the quickest route to the airport, I arrived at my check-in desk with 3 minutes (that's right, THREE MINUTES) to spare. I checked my bag, bought my English money, cleared security and made my way to the gate in time to basically walk on the plane. It was stressful, but worth it. And that's what I kept telling myself as I was driving. If I just make it to the plane, this will all be worth it.

The flight over was relatively uneventful, bar the foreign couple (speaking some strange language) who was sat beside me. They were the only people in my section of the plane that were talking for the 2 hours that I tried to sleep. Plus they were making the most of their free drinks on international flights.....their first order was for two beers and two scotches and I think that was just for the boyfriend. I certainly wasn't surprised when they managed to spill something down my leg halfway through the flight, when I was supposedly asleep. I woke up and they promptly went to sleep. I was thankful the in flight entertainment, enjoying two movies. All in all, it was a glorious experiences not having two small goats, sorry children to herd and entertain for 9 hours.

My arrival in England was great. I made my way to Paddington station to meet A & R and baby J, who's not really a baby anymore. We had a lovely evening catching up and enjoying a scrumptious Italian dinner at a local restaurant. It was the real deal with Italian waiters, with heavy accents and fresh mozzerella cheese from Naples. The walk back to their flat was definitely needed after dinner. This morning we got up and enjoyed fresh croissants from the local bakery and a trip to Queens Park for baby J to run around at the playground. I headed out on the tube after lunch and made my way (with only one wrong direction trip on the tube) to Kings Cross to catch my train north. The train ride up was relatively short and uneventful. I am getting a bit of a complex though as I've been referred to as a "he" on a couple of occasions now with my hat on.....not sure what that's all about. I've arrived in time for fresh lamb roast for dinner and hopefully another quiet night's sleep.

I hope my schmoogies are behaving for their Grandma Lady and Bean's not too sad without his Mama.