Do You Want to Build A Snowman?

I hate to say it, but we are all sick.  Terribly sick.  Sicker than we've been in a long time.  Our noses are not dripping.  There is no coughing or wheezing.  Our skin is clear.  Our temperatures are normal.  Physically, we are all quite well...thriving actually.  The fresh air and lack of restaurant eating has actually caused both Greg and I to go down a pant size each!  No, I am talking about homesickness.

We have been up here past the Arctic Circle for almost 4 weeks, and we are all carrying a heavy heart, yearning for the sights, smells, tastes and sounds of home.  Even Miss Charlotte said yesterday "I'm tired of seeing the polar bear license plates!  I want to see more plain old boring white rectangle license plates!".

For Greg, it's not being able to see his parents, and missing the good old days of his previous job when the job was a happy and healthy place to be and when he loved what he did for a living and going to work each day put a grin on his face a mile wide.  The job here, although rewarding, is still quite stressful, and getting used to being back in the classroom is taking a bit longer than Greg realized.

For the kids, they miss their BFFs.  Each of them have come to me in the past week, tears hanging on their cheeks, needing comfort and reassurance that we will see them again and that we are going back to Ontario for Christmas.  Some of them are missing our beloved kitties, Orlando and Florida. All three of them are missing their amazing and wonderful school in London, St. Thomas More.  They miss the loving and supportive staff there and the great kids who attend the school.  I have never felt such a loving yet peaceful energy coming from a school before, and St. Thomas More was always a welcoming and happy place for not just the kids, but for me too.

As for me, well, I just miss the way things were.  I miss getting up in the morning and rushing around to get ready so that I could run the Wilson Family Bus to school.  On Fridays when we had a good week, I would make a stop at Tim Horton's for a medium double double and milk and donuts for the kids.  The kids loved sitting in the van with me and laughing and talking while I sipped coffee and resisted temptation of donuts, while the kids munched on their breakfast.  I miss Orlando, my big grey kitty, who followed me around the apartment all day.  I miss the closeness of our apartment.  We needed badly to get out of it....we were way too big AND it was much to small for us after five years of living there, but it was a convenient and happy place to live.  I miss that our kids lived right across the street from a wonderful park and spent countless happy hours there.  That is not to say that up here is so horrible.  It's just missing the ways things were, and it hurts my heart.

Greg and I have been reassuring the kids and we have made sure that we are all extra kind to each other as well as being sensitive to each other's needs.  I find that each kid comes to me several times a day for a hug or a cuddle, and they are kissing me more now than ever.  I am making sure that my hugs are extra tight and my words are extra loving to them.

Change is difficult.  We knew that going into this whole thing, and for as much as I would give anything to jump on a private jet and send it directly to London, Ontario, I know that we will adjust. In the meantime, I leave you with these lyrics from the Disney movie, Frozen...

They say, “have courage” and I’m trying to

I’m right out here for you

Just let me in

 We only have each other

It’s just you and me

What are we gonna do?

 Do you want to build a snowman?