A bit of an emotional week for the both of us as we start to say “au revoir” to colleagues, friends and family. Lunch with Tonbridge and my partners in admin crime, Suzie and Sarah, on Tuesday followed by dinner in the evening with our lovely friends Trevor, Sharon and their son Barnaby.  Barnaby was trying very hard to balance socialising with revision for an end of term physics exam.  Hope it went well Barnaby!!
On Wednesday, I was overwhelmed by the kindness and fond farewell from all the ALS team at Ashford. Flowers, chocolates and rather a large quantity of wine (which is definitely helping with the packing!) and very touching words in my card. Despite only being with the team for 7 months, I felt a close bond with staff and students alike and will miss the day to day banter.  8.30am doesn’t feel the same without the announcements from the electronic Uno game winging their way down the corridor.

Thank you to all of you for making me so welcome. After a day of moving things from one pile to another on Thursday, I dedicated Friday to dress shopping for our son, Sam, and his beautiful intended, Tabitha’s, wedding.  After doing several laps of Bluewater, the dress was duly bought along with suitable accessories.

No time to put my feet up though because we were both meeting friends in Maidstone for more “au revoirs”.  Jon was with work colleagues and I was with my “Pink” friends, Becca, Lydia and Debbie.  There was a distinct lack of “Pink” on my part as I was nominated driver but a small lager shandy and a couple of very green lemonade and limes kept me on the right side of the law.  If there had been any incidents, I was prepared….. my wonderful backpack full of must have items was very well planned and thought through.  Cheese balls that weren’t balls, soap for dirty girls and a luminous thong.  Who needs sensible stuff (like clothes) when you have chocolate, a novelty duck shower cap and a banana carrier (with fork accessory)?  Once again I had some very touching sentiments in personally designed cards.  “Inspiring” seems to be a word we are hearing a lot recently.  Is it a code word for “crazy”? After a quick “hello” to Jon’s colleagues it was time to head home.  We both had the mix of happy and sad feelings.  Happy to be starting our adventure but sad that we cannot see so much of close friends.  Diary dates are booked for our return in September so more lunches, dinners and “Pink” are scheduled.  I love a bit of forward planning and next time we won’t have a car so can’t be chauffeur so I can ditch the shandies and dodgy green stuff and do “Pink” as it should be done.

More shopping to get Jon’s wedding togs.  He loathes shopping so did very well to parade around to make the right choices.  He looks a handsome devil and watch the blog to see both of us at the event of the year on August 14th in Bled, Slovenia.  Yes, we have changed the schedule to travel across to Slovenia to meet up with immediate family for this exciting and emotional ceremony.  Keep your eye on the blog for more updates. One final au revoir is to our lovely little car.  We have found a buyer and it is being collected next Saturday.  You have served us well little Clio.  Jon even warmed to your satnav in the end.  Just one more week of trips to charity shops and the dump and a whole new lease of life with a young lady who needs to travel from Maidstone to Durham University.  Bye bye “new car”….

May 2015