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selenayI'm in England! In my parents' living room, to be precise, with a fluffy Annie cat snoozing beside me.
It wasn't the easiest few days. Supervising shippers to pack and load all my belongings was harder work than it sounds (I knew it would be, Dad was surprised) and there was a lot of rushing about for final details and stuff, so we were all running on fumes and very little sleep by the end.
The pet shipper picked up the cats on time and Dad and I made it to the airport with loads of time. The lovely H met us there for a final goodbye and send-off, which was brilliant.
And then our flight was delayed :-( Apparently a cabin crew member on the inbound flight was injured during the flight, so they had to wait for a replacement. As this was at around 11.30pm and the airport is miles from civilisation, it took a while for the replacement to arrive. We ended up departing over an hour late and arrived in London an hour late. Although, by the standards of my usual travel karma, this wasn't actually that bad.
And then the doors off the bridge broke. All the passengers were lining up on the bridge between plane and airport, which was all glass and rapidly getting very hot, and it took around 15 minutes to get the doors opened manually. I felt bad for all the passengers with connections!
After that, I hoped the day would be smoother. Dad was travelling with me and we got home around midday, did a bit of unpacking, and then dashed out to buy food before the cats arrived. When I got home from that, there was an email to say there was an issue with the cats' paperwork and they were being held in animal control.
Yeah, I might have started panicking then.
Thankfully it was an issue that could be resolved by my vet sending more paperwork through, but it was a terrifying few hours waiting to hear if they'd be allowed in. I nearly cried when I got the email to say they'd been cleared for entry! The pet shipper delivered them to the door at around 7pm (glad I opted for that - I was in no state to drive anywhere by then) and they were tired and a little stressed, but otherwise fine. Even Kate - I'd expected her to puke or have diarrhoea at some point, but nope. My kitty with a dodgy tummy was fine.
I kept them in one room for the first night and day, to give them time to adjust and calm down, and then Annie escaped so often that we gave in and allowed them into the main house. They're banned from the kitchen and bedrooms, and not allowed in the living room at night or when we're out, but they seem happy with that. They've adjusted and settled in far better than I was expecting!
I got a lot of admin type stuff done on Friday, so I now have a UK mobile number and a working library card. I have my priorities :-) And I got to spend the evening with my uncle, which was lovely. Just knowing that I don't need to cram an entire year of visiting into one evening is great!
My sister and brother in law are coming out for lunch today. BIL is a chef so I'm not at all intimidated by cooking for them. Nope! Please note that my dad retreated from all possibility of cooking for my BIL the moment I arrived. Well played, Dad.
Anyway, the move was stressful and exhausting, but I'm here and settling in and feeling happy about everything. My plan is to take the next couple of days slowly, catch up on my sleep, and generally recover from all the stress of the last few weeks. Then I can start dashing about visiting everyone and doing three million things I've missed doing.
But first, resting. With the BBC iPlayer, if I can figure out how Dad's telly works!
It wasn't the easiest few days. Supervising shippers to pack and load all my belongings was harder work than it sounds (I knew it would be, Dad was surprised) and there was a lot of rushing about for final details and stuff, so we were all running on fumes and very little sleep by the end.
The pet shipper picked up the cats on time and Dad and I made it to the airport with loads of time. The lovely H met us there for a final goodbye and send-off, which was brilliant.
And then our flight was delayed :-( Apparently a cabin crew member on the inbound flight was injured during the flight, so they had to wait for a replacement. As this was at around 11.30pm and the airport is miles from civilisation, it took a while for the replacement to arrive. We ended up departing over an hour late and arrived in London an hour late. Although, by the standards of my usual travel karma, this wasn't actually that bad.
And then the doors off the bridge broke. All the passengers were lining up on the bridge between plane and airport, which was all glass and rapidly getting very hot, and it took around 15 minutes to get the doors opened manually. I felt bad for all the passengers with connections!
After that, I hoped the day would be smoother. Dad was travelling with me and we got home around midday, did a bit of unpacking, and then dashed out to buy food before the cats arrived. When I got home from that, there was an email to say there was an issue with the cats' paperwork and they were being held in animal control.
Yeah, I might have started panicking then.
Thankfully it was an issue that could be resolved by my vet sending more paperwork through, but it was a terrifying few hours waiting to hear if they'd be allowed in. I nearly cried when I got the email to say they'd been cleared for entry! The pet shipper delivered them to the door at around 7pm (glad I opted for that - I was in no state to drive anywhere by then) and they were tired and a little stressed, but otherwise fine. Even Kate - I'd expected her to puke or have diarrhoea at some point, but nope. My kitty with a dodgy tummy was fine.
I kept them in one room for the first night and day, to give them time to adjust and calm down, and then Annie escaped so often that we gave in and allowed them into the main house. They're banned from the kitchen and bedrooms, and not allowed in the living room at night or when we're out, but they seem happy with that. They've adjusted and settled in far better than I was expecting!
I got a lot of admin type stuff done on Friday, so I now have a UK mobile number and a working library card. I have my priorities :-) And I got to spend the evening with my uncle, which was lovely. Just knowing that I don't need to cram an entire year of visiting into one evening is great!
My sister and brother in law are coming out for lunch today. BIL is a chef so I'm not at all intimidated by cooking for them. Nope! Please note that my dad retreated from all possibility of cooking for my BIL the moment I arrived. Well played, Dad.
Anyway, the move was stressful and exhausting, but I'm here and settling in and feeling happy about everything. My plan is to take the next couple of days slowly, catch up on my sleep, and generally recover from all the stress of the last few weeks. Then I can start dashing about visiting everyone and doing three million things I've missed doing.
But first, resting. With the BBC iPlayer, if I can figure out how Dad's telly works!
