Back At It!

Well, here we are again.  Back at it for another year.

Sorry for the hiatus, readers.  I had a fun filled Mediterranean cruise, sans wifi, at the end of school then headed home to Saskatchewan, Canada to visit family and friends.

You know that moment when you get somewhere and everything just feels right?  Like, although things have changed, you belong there.  You know life there.  Things make sense and are easy to understand.  That’s exactly how it felt going back home to Canada.  Just like putting on an old jacket that had molded to you over the years, with wear patches in all the right places.  Seeing family and friends was absolutely amazing.  And the best part: it was like life hadn’t fast forwarded a year at all.  Oh sure, we all had changed somewhat and life had moved on with new adventures for all of us, but overall it was very similar.  Comforting.  And to have all the conveniences of a North American lifestyle again was truly appreciated for all its worth. 

It all started with a birthday surprise for Whitney, who didn’t know I was coming home early (which was hard to keep a surprise since she wanted my flight info and I had to lie about getting it to her).  The look on her face and the tears that followed were priceless!  And that was only the beginning!  The next seven weeks were filled with:

*meeting my beautiful niece for the first time, and seeing my sister and brother-in-law

*participating in filthy clean fun at the 5K Foam Fest in Saskatoon with “The Bubble Pops”

*watching Blue Jay games

*going for sushi lunch

*spending time at the beach

*catching up with friends

*taking a 2 wk family road trip to the US via Nashville, Savannah, Washington, DC

*seeing a live performance of Dancing with the Stars

*playing Mario Party and Mario Kart

*seeing former colleagues

*going to a Saskatchewan Roughrider football game

*having a backyard fire

And just generally enjoying driving around, hanging with the family and relaxing.

But now it’s over and life needs to continue.  For now it’s back in Genoa, teaching 4^th grade this year and living in a new apartment with some great friends.  To be honest, I was conflicted about coming back.  There were lots of positives and new adventures waiting for me back in Italy, yet to again be so far away from family, friends and a life filled with many conveniences was heart wrenching.  Yet I really was ready.  Ready to get on with my life again and although I knew I was going to miss so much, it was time.  Time to start the next year and many more adventures in Europe.  Let’s see what shenanigans this expat in Italy will get into this year. ;)