I'm a few days early, I know, but it's basically been a month since we landed here in England. A lot of changes have and are taking place, and not just physically. My mental outlook on this relocation, and "going without," have been altered dramatically during the past few weeks. Needless to say, there are still a few places and routines that my creature-of-habit mentality desperately misses, but for the most part I already feel... 'changed'. Let me elaborate.
Week 1: Vacation mode. At this point, I didn't really feel like I was on anything other than a vacation. The hubs had made plans for just about every single day to reconnect with family and friends, so we had plenty to do and plenty of places to visit. Still hadn't unpacked suitcases; too busy consuming food and wine. Overall outlook: relaxed, happy, bloated; constantly mildly intoxicated (with happiness, or otherwise).
Week 2: Settling in. Still seeing lots of friends and being introduced to the general area, but the social aspect has calmed down considerably. Cooking dinners nearly every night for the whole family. Introduced everyone to "Taco Tuesday" (and they're still not sick of it yet!). Cheese & wine obsession still going strong; diet failing miserably.
Week 3: Back to business. Lots of job interviews and meetings for Steve; I'm back on the daily blog grind. Trying to get more projects running and make this hobby truly profitable. A mini road trip to the south coast has left me dreaming of a bungalow by the sea: more motivation to make both of us reach for more success, career-wise.
Week 4: Chinatown withdrawal. I know I'm only going into week 4 now, but I'm starting to miss the little things. Like "real" Chinese food. I'm not even Asian, I just can't ever remember a stretch of time this long that I hadn't had my wok or some odd looking, delicious vegetables to stir up in a spicy, fermented sauce. le Sigh.
In the other, normal, daily aspect of things: we're on a strict budget now, since Steve has had a job offer, but hasn't started his job yet since his to-be boss is away on holiday (because month long vacations are normal in August, or something). It's made me realize how many times a day we spend 'needlessly', and packing lunches or going without frivolous shopping and daily trips to the pub won't kill us. I hope.
Overall mood, on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being lounging beside a pool in Spain) I'd say I'd give this first month a 7. Obviously there's a minute amount of stress due to the we're-not-working-yet situation, but in the broader scheme of things, I think this relocation is converting me into a relaxed person. I still have my anxious binge-working and binge-cleaning days/moments, but I see a definitive difference between the lifestyle here and what I had been accustomed to. I'm sweating the little stuff less and less, and I'm happy about it.
