So I'm back!

We had a lovely time in Dublin, Ireland but I am very, very happy to be home.

Are you like that too?

I LOVE going away and enjoy it tremendously wherever I am (provided it's not too hot) but I LOVE coming home too.

The minute I get to the airport and am checked in, I start thinking of home.

Anyway, Ireland.

It was lovely, grey, rainy, cold weather which simply delights me. All the South Africans think I'm weird because I love cold weather so much.

What is it about the cold that I love? The crispness of the air, everything feels cleaner outside, I can have lots of tea (!), dress warm, wear gloves, eat soup, etc, etc.

The one thing I will say is that a city holiday is not a place for a pregnant woman. And we consciously didn't do many walking-type activities, rode the bus/ LUAS as much as possible and still there was a lot of walking.

One morning we had to rush to meet our tour bus and I had to walk FAST. By the time I got there I was absolutely pooped and very teary - "what if I'm doing something to the babies by pushing myself this much?"

Had a bit of a cry on D's shoulder. He is an AMAZING man generally, and more so for putting up with me. Really!

Then I had a moment on the LUAS (tram) one evening. Those Irish people do not give a DAMN whether you are old, pregnant, a woman, etc.(very strange because in South Africa, we're taught to give up our seats - it's good manners :)) - they keep their seats. So frustrating when you see young, able-bodied men sitting and big, pregnant me hanging onto those poles for dear life.

I actually said to our friend, "good thing you're with us otherwise I would have been moaning and whinging some more" and I was not joking!

Oh! We had a bumper bashing one evening and I felt the one baby move very strongly (it felt like she was twisting) and then there was NOTHING for awhile. I was freaking out and told myself if I feel nothing by the morning, I'll have to suck it up and pay Euro to go see a doctor, but fortunately, the next morning she was doing her morning aerobics again and I was a happy mother!

It was lovely spending time with our friends but also a bit frustrating because they're unstructured and we're very structured (I didn't realise we were that structured until living with them) so in the evenings we had supper at 9:30 - 10:00 pm because it was "should we cook? should we go out?" every night! That frustrated me big-time. At home, we decide these things in advance and then just do it. And of course I have a menu plan so I don't have to do much thinking on the actual day.

The one night I actually just said I'm done with this - I'll make a toasted sandwich at home and you guys can go out. I am clearly led of God because D said they actually didn't eat anything until well after midnight!

The actual flights were not too bad. The Jhb legs of the trips were empty so I could stretch out over 4 seats and sleep - lovely, and the Dublin legs were understandably full, and full of noisy kids. I told mine they'd better be good travellers because I can't deal with all that screaming! Felt very taken care of by the air hostesses who kept bringing me extra pillows, water, etc. because I'm pregnant.

So that's our last pre-babies trip and I am happy to "retire" my suitcases for awhile. It just gets too stressful.

Well, I have an organising job in Durban on Monday and Tuesday next week so one last flight (only 45 minutes this time) and then, finally, I can relax and wait for the babies.