Expat Magazine

Re-entry is Always Difficult

By Expatmum @tonihargis
Well, I've been back since Tuesday night and it's now Friday. The jet lag is killing me I have to say. First night back, we didn't get home till about 8pm so I was forced to stay up until 9pm (3am body clock) when usually I would have wimped out and hit the sack long before. The Little Guy (now 12, and not at all little) didn't want to go to bed and since I was the only other person in the house, I was obliged to stay up with him. (I'm not usually that benevolent but since he was the one trying to do the right thing vis a vis jet lag, I went along with it.)
The inevitable waking at 3am was not helped by the Punk Rocker, who is practically nocturnal these days (partly due to a part time graveyard shift job). Oblivious to other humans in the house, he proceeded to sing for a good fifteen minutes. I was just about to get up and hiss at him when he disappeared into the bat cave his bedroom and all was quiet again.
Rose at 5am, had to have a nap at 3pm on the first day. Didn't do much better on the second day, and today I managed to sleep till 6.30am, which may sound normal to some but is not my idea of a reasonable time to be getting up and starting the day.
Meanwhile, I have been tackling everything that seems to have been put "on hold" in my month long absence despite the presence of various warm bodies in the house throughout that time. (Ball & Chain, Ex-Queenager, Punk Rocker, I'm looking at all of you.)
My back garden looks like a scene from one of those movies where the earth is scorched and civilization has come to an end. The front isn't much better, with all my lovely potted plants either dead or shriveled. Thank goodness the plant shops are now selling everything at 50% off so I have just re-stocked. Given that it's currently about 90 Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) I won't be planting till it's cooled off and I have a chilled glass of white in my hands. (Any excuse...)
My Tupperware cabinet looks like it has exploded. You can't even open the door without lids and size 11 bowls flying all over the place. Sigh. The pots and pans drawer isn't much better, with large pots balanced on top of smaller ones, instead of..... well, you know how they should be stacked. And don't get me started on the pantry. I'm not particularly Type A, but I do think it makes sense to keep cereal together, tea & coffee together, tins on one shelf, oils and condiments somewhat close to each other. You know, just in case you need to find something in under an hour. Well, let's just say it's not like that at the moment.
Re-entry is always difficultMine doesn't look like this.
Oh yes, the vacation's definitely over.

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