Whew! The last (nearly) three years just flew by, eh? A lot has changed and a lot of changes are to come. As I am sure I have lost some regular readers – and it’s entirely possible that I have lost all of my readers since who reads blogs anymore? – I should probably keep my summary of my time away as brief as possible.
At the end of 2015, I looked forward to 2016 full of optimism, thinking it would be an easier, better year. As I am sure my absence spoke volumes, I will summarise and say it was one of the hardest years of my life. I moved back to my native California, got a full time teaching gig at a school close to my home, and was looking forward to a great year. I was living with my loving parents, had a lovely summer, went camping with The Husband and Son, and prepared for my first full year of teaching in my own classroom. Then reality struck. The Husband went back to Australia, I started the school year only to find the job was not as advertised. It was a high stress job at a struggling public school and my students were some of the most difficult and disruptive students in the whole place.
Then, shortly after the start of the school year, my mother was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia and The Husband returned to California to help me while my folks were in the hospital for her treatment. He returned to Australia at the end of October with plans to move over in 2017. Then the election happened, and the less I say about that the better. I will say that I had yet another reason to cry myself to sleep in November. The holidays were a blur and when The Husband was set to return, he was denied entry and detained due to some complete bullshit atthe border and was sent back to Australia.
Initially we tried to push forward with our plan for him to immigrate, but the red tape would take at least six months and we decided it would be simpler for all of us to return to Australia. Fortunately, my mother’s cancer treatment was successful, and around the time she finished her last round of chemo, I got a job offer in Australia for a full-time teaching job at an amazing school.
The rest of 2017 was fairly positive. I had been tried by fire and found out how strong I was. I knew much better who I was, and I was working in a job that I loved. By the end of 2017, Husband and I started talking about having Baby #2 (finally). Now, at the end of 2018 (a fairly busy but mostly uneventful year), I am 30 weeks along in pregnancy numero dos, and facing several long months of maternity leave. How will I fill this time? Well, before the bub arrives, I should have some free time I can fill with writing and I have a few motherhood topics I’d like to explore, ruminations on relationships and reflections on the changes in my own mental health I’ve experienced. Watch this space!
Ultrasound picture of Baby #2.
Poly Momma 