Friday, September 07, 2007

How Are They/We Getting On?

It's Friday and the children will be starting their third day at the new boarding school. They have been in touch every evening so far to let us know how they're getting on, and everything seems to be going very well. Elliot has found a band to join, and says his first Media Studies lesson was great: "We just analysed films for the whole lesson!".
Abigail was late for registration on her first day because she got lost, but that's to be expected in such a big unfamiliar place. She has also had her first hockey practice and the teacher said she was a natural.

Karen and I are enjoying ourselves, kind of. We went to the Theatre Royal in Windsor the other night to see The Unexpected Guest by Agatha Christie, followed by a Thai supper. The play was OK, but a little old-fashioned and predictable, and the supper was tasty and very fast; we were in and out in 25 minutes. We are missing the children of course, but personally I feel diverted by our new-found freedom. All of a sudden we have lots of time on our hands and just ourselves for company, and that's a heady combination when you're staying right in the heart of a great town like Windsor. We can step out of the flat on a whim, walk through a short alley, and be right amongst the bars and restaurants of Windsor High St: lovely!

When we leave Riyadh (at the end of November!) we may well need to return to the UK for a while before Karen's next posting (No, we don't know where yet), and we plan to rent a place in Windsor again. In fact, we spent an enjoyable Wednesday afternoon walking around town looking at possible properties, streets, and locations.

While we're in the UK we can pretend like we're on holiday on our own, but I think it's going to really hit home when we return to Riyadh and it's just the two of us in the house.

I returned to work yesterday and am in the office at the moment, so I'd better go now before somebody important spots me blogging when I should be working!

1 comment:

Izzie Mathis said...

You have two lovely kids. Unfortunately, I'm sure that soon the fact that they're not there will really sink in and you probably won't like it very much. I'd aim to distract yourself with going out lots and not dwelling on the empty house. My mother went to boarding school from about Abigails age until she was 18. I know my grandparents found it hard.

Izzie