I'm Back...Back in the USSR - i mean UAE!!!

Above - Our villa.
Above - Taking sheesha with workmate and his wife.

Above - Tennis courts at village.

Above - Pool at Villa.

Above - Welcome home Dad!! Best feeling in the world.

G'day, (mmm, feels good saying / writing that).

It's been a few weeks since my last post, but as most would probably know, it's official, we're off to the UAE for a year.

Things finally came to head in the last 2 days of my initial stint, and agreements were put into place and signed off, meaning i was committing to a one year deal to move the family to the UAE. Funny thing about all of this is that my last week in the UAE was one of my worst, with so many frustrations and difficult people to deal with, it would have been very easy to walk away from the whole thing then and there. Ive been very conscious of the big picture though, and lets be frank...these opportunities don't come by every day, and this, in the worst case, is a great chance to have the whole family experience something so different from home (not better in my opinion, but different), and this experience will hopefully really broaden the kids minds and attitudes to the world and what we have back home. It has certainly done that for me over the last 3 months.

So anyway, my last week included silly hours again, dumping my existing luggage at someones house so i could travel back with empty cases, for the return reload and as usual the long flight back home. Time couldn't go faster enough for me, i was so amped to see the kids and FS.

The customs officers must have seen my excitement, and i got the speedy checks and scans and then straight through to the arrivals section. B1 saw me first and bolted under the restraining ropes to grab me for a huge cuddle. I was then crashed tackled by B2 and B3!! what a feeling, it was so good to hold the boys. Other than a couple of "daddy" screams, none of us really even talked for the first minute, just cuddled. With the other passengers cuing up behind us, we moved done the walkway...for a second i thought i saw Rebecca Harris (TV host of Hello:Goodbye, she'd have done a great show with us!!ha ha) As i came to the end of the walkway, i saw B4. He was standing, had lovely blonde hair( i now offically have the least amount of hair in my tribe) and took 2 or 3 wobbly steps towards me. Of all the boys, he had changed the most. With B1,2,3 on my back i picked up B4, and whilst my little dady's boy was a bit shy(showing his anger at me for leaving him for so long i think) for about 3 seconds, he then latched on really tightly, (and didn't let go until i flew out a week later). I now had B1,2,3,&4 hanging off me and FS was now coming in for the long overdue hugs and kisses. How good is this!!

Nothing beats the feeling of coming home, doesn't matter whether it's been a 3 month stint, a week or even just a day at the office!

So i was at home for a week, and besides the long awaited catch ups with FS, we had to organise moving out of our house, transferring all our utilities, post, etc, moving the boys out of school, including transfer letters, meeting with teachers, holding a garage sale, transporting stuff to Vinnies, tip runs, engaging real estate agents for renting the house, catching-up with other family and friends, convincing my directors that all was cool, meeting another work fella to design a new system to take back with me, having dad in hospital for surgery, moving in with the in-laws for a couple of days and generally getting over some severe jet lag. Yes, a full week for all.

Someone once told me that jet lag sits somewhere in the brain next to depression or one of it's close relatives like anxiety. I can't argue, I've been very nervous about the whole move, (especially once i had returned to Aust), particularly with the family involved. It almost seems ludicrous to leave the nth beaches of Sydney, a great job, house, schools and family and friends to move to the desert where temps get up to 50 degrees, we know basically no-one, work six days /week, for a job fraught with hassles. Writing it sounds even more ludicrous.

BUT, even with all of this, i just have to refer to the top paragraph of this blogg and remember that as long as we are all together, this is a great opportunity to experience the world, learn a tonne of stuff, make new friends from around the world, do some travelling, maybe make a bit of money (i think FS's itinerary has already had this spent though). i mean, why does any Aussie travel? Because we're an intrigued people and eager to learn and see more about the world. I've said it a lot lately to myself, "nothing beats home, but home will always be there".

Anyway, I'm now back in the UAE, while FS and boys travel to Queensland for a holiday. They'll all be here in 2 weeks and i can't wait to start our adventure together!!