LONDON CALLING...

So I realize I haven't exactly been the most regular blogger of late. I've ummmm'd & ahhhh'd over how to write this post and have decided that hand on heart honesty will be the best option.

There's good, bad & ugly in this story. Hopefully there's a little something to keep everyone interested (or at least mildly entertained until the end) and I promise I'll be brief, or at least as brief as possible without cutting out any of the good parts, after all heaven forbid I only leave you with the bad & the ugly.

First things first, if you hadn't already gathered from the flavor of my posts, I really struggled for a while there Scott was away. It's always rough when your significant other is elsewhere although this time was particularly taxing, both on Will & myself (I'd like to add that it's always tough for Scott too but that's a topic for another post entirely). Will reacted to Scott's absence by waking up 3, sometimes 5 times in a night desperate for reassurance. I reacted to Scott's absence, Will's behavior & the exhaustion of solo parenting by exploding at my poor unsuspecting wee boy and turning into a rage monster. Frankly speaking - it was ugly.

Thankfully I know myself well enough to recognize a funk when I see one and was jolted out of the worst of it by an entirely unassuming comment made by a teacher at Will's daycare who asked me if I actually spent any 1-on-1 time with my son. If the answer is not immediately "of course!" it's time to take a good hard look in the mirror, if you don't like what you see it's time to make some adjustments, which I did.

With the rage monster slayed it was time to prepare for Scott's return. Excitement was an understatement of how I felt the morning he was due home. I had the day off work and an entire day of cleaning & preening mapped out. As the chiropractor explained to me a few hours later, at some point when I was hauling the 16kg+ mass of my son out of his car seat at daycare I twisted, clicked my hip out slightly which pinched a nerve in my back causing the muscles surrounding it to spasm. As a result I lost all power in my left leg, the muscles on the right side of my body tensed to compensate and in short (using highly technical terms here) I was f___.

How I drove myself home I do not know, the pain was excruciating, fair to say if we owned a manual I would have had to camp out at Will's daycare. I part stumbled, part crawled, part dragged myself into the house & (in short) spent the remainder of the day, save a trip to the chiropractor, on my back unable to move. Suffice to say Scott's homecoming wasn't exactly the affair I had imagined. That said he was home & it was marvelous (none the less because I had finished all the water in my bottle & desperately needed a top-up...)

It's probably an appropriate time to mention that while I was away in Melbourne the goal posts at work changed remarkably. Due to two internal promotions I was given a great opportunity to step up into a more senior role at work. It meant returning to full-time hours, but as it was only for 3 months I decided the juice was worth the squeeze. Of course my first "official" day back at the office was the Monday after I put my back out. . .it's been a week and a half and I'm STILL hobbling around the office like an invalid.

The only way Scott would allow me to describe the posting cycle for RNZAF Officers is to say they occur every 18 - 24 months, in fairness this is probably fitting given every other factor involved is completely beyond me. As such it should really have come as no surprise when we were told (the Friday after he arrived home) that he was being posted to the University of Cranfield in Bedfordshire England for  a period of 12 months. . . starting September.

No kidding.

Scott's been given the opportunity to study a Masters in Aerospace Vehicle Design, which means Will & I are packing up shop and heading over there with him. I'm still not entirely sure what to make of this all other than to be entirely overwhelmed at the thought of being so close to Prince Harry.

With everything going on here I'm afraid I'll be closing up shop for photos, not the challenge simply my capacity to take pictures for people. I have loved every single shoot & all the amazing people I have met over the past 18 months. I hope you've enjoyed the journey with me. For now I feel it is time to refocus, reassess & can't wait to share the exciting adventures we have to come.

So - there you have it, the warts & all version of "life lately" here.

More updates from me soon. Promise!

Jacq

xo