Home Sweet Home

I woke up at 5.24 this morning, six minutes before my alarm would have woken me.  I made myself a cup of tea, checked my emails and then spent an hour getting dressed and packing for my trip home from New Zealand.

Saying goodbye to Vegan Chickie, The Bare-chested Chef and Chicklet, was heart breaking and made me feel sooooo sad.  I sat like a zombie waiting for the airline to make the  boarding announcement and then tried desperately to fall asleep on the plane in the hope that the flight would go faster.

It worked because we landed in Oz thirty minutes earlier than scheduled, but it still felt like the longest flight EVER!

It took all of 20 minutes to pick up my luggage from the carousel and then get through Customs.  Out I walked to find Adoring Husband rushing to greet me and obviously feeling a little emotional.  How nice it was to feel his arms wrap around me and hear the joy in his voice as he welcomed me home!

I grabbed a take-away cappuccino and we wasted no time leaving the airport car park to make our way North to find Number One Son.  He was waiting for us in Brisbane, so with help from GPS Jane, we found him at chosen rendezvous point and then headed for home.

We arrived home just after 4.30pm.  Such a long, emotional day.  The relief, as we pulled into the driveway, was immense, and the warm and fuzzy feeling that swept over me as Psychotic Dogs greeted me loudly when I came through the door was overwhelming.

A couple of hours later, sitting outside in the cool afternoon breeze, a steak on the barby for the boys, a few drinks and some catching up with Number One Son and all is right with the world.

I checked my emails after dinner to find a new photo of my lovely little sleeping Chicklet waiting for me and the tears welled again.  I miss my NZ family so much and I hate that it will be so long til we see each other again, but, at the risk of sounding like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz,  the thing is ....

***genuine sigh of contentment***

there is no place like home.