Well, it’s now January and this will be the last official blog from our American experience. What a ride it’s been….. but let’s just recap the happenings on the last month leaving in the good old United States of America.
The month itself started pretty much as per usual, except for the fact that Belinda was not feeling Christmas AT ALL!!! In case you didn’t know I LOVE Christmas, it’s my chance to go nuts and make the house look amazing (especially since coming to the US and bring able to buy some beautiful things) anyway the Christmas spirit I think was being squashed by the packing and the thought of having to pack it all back up was winning.
I eventually made myself go and bring in the storage boxes and looked at them for an hour of so – NOTHING…so I called Bruce and he laughed at me, then I called Paula and she understood – more packing!!!! Eventually I pulled out a few things and we got a small Christmas tree, it was all pretty sad looking compared to what it usually looks like but it was enough to satisfy my husband who was worried about the kids not feeling like Christmas.
Our December started with the boys both making the Semi Finals of basketball and they both came out with the win. Jamieson’s team finally played to their potential and killed them, Jamieson played like a champ – that’s my boy!!!
The boys headed back to school with Jamieson starting in a new grade in a new track. He knew a lot of the kids and the teacher a little so it wasn’t a hard transition to get back into school. I did a little packing and spent some time at the office helping Beth put orders together and get them out to the new Borders stores, by the end of the week Bruce and I were stuffed (Bruce had been in San Fran in meetings all day) and we were ready for the week to end so after dinner we all went around to Beth & Doug’s for a drink!!
Championship game in basketball on Saturday, the boys were very excited. We came out of the day with no win’s but it was a great experience for both the boys and the big one too coaching in both games. Jamieson’s team let the magnitude of the day get to them and they just plain choked, Conner’s team had chances to win and didn’t get there in the end…they were bummed because they knew they could’ve had it. We finished the day with pizza (as always) and then a quiet night at home.
Sunday was a quiet day trying to get Conner to study for his finals that were coming up, he’s gets that he has to do it and that it pays off in the end but in the moment he hates it and needs that push. Later in the day we did a pop in around the corner at the Cendro’s while Conner had a study break, then Bruce went off to say Good bye to his friend Greg at the local UPS store.
Tuesday Bruce and I spent most of the day together, he had some Borders stores to see so I went along for the ride and got some Christmas presents in Vacaville which was a bonus, Vacaville is always the place to shop. We got home and Conner did some studying before we headed off to watch Franklin basketball games. I have to say, the teams are different to what we saw last year, it’s early but they have a lot of work to do to get their teams to where they want them. Wednesday morning started early, I dropped Bruce off at the airport for his flight to LA and then went home to get some more packing done. Conner’s finals started so he was a little tense, Jamieson was just being Jamieson, really enjoying being on A track which was a big relief to Bruce and I and enjoying life and they were both coming to the realization that they were leaving their friends. Bruce had a productive day in LA and I was back at the airport with the kids sleeping in the back around 10.30pm – long day for all. Friday was both the boys official last day of school in America…. Conner took it in his stride, it sounds like everyone said good bye but not much of a fuss. Jamieson’s grade had a Christmas feast and I took hot chocolate and candy canes in for everyone, then headed to the office to say goodbye to the ladies…. It was busy which made it a lot better, a quick goodbye and little cries then off home for me. Bruce picked up Conner at the same time, filled out some paperwork and it was goodbye to Toby Johnson middle school (that experience was a mixed one – they have some great things and they also have some systems that are just terrible) when I say that, things like the kids don’t have lockers and are required to walk around all day with their bags and text books etc, on rainy days there is nowhere inside for the kids to go they just have to have an umbrella and try to find some cover if they can… - like I said, not good enough for us. Stone Lake Elementary was so fantastic and we are going to miss everyone from the kids to the staff and even the janitorial staff that helped me when running my PTO events every year….everyone was great!!!!
Friday afternoon Bruce and I jumped into the car in the rain, dropped the boys of with friends (Conner at David’s and Jamieson at Kevin’s) and headed off for a belated Anniversary night out in San Francisco (well we won’t be able to say anything cool like that anymore) It still sounds funny even after so long…we got slowed down a little in the Friday night traffic, but we weren’t in a hurry so we just chatted and waited, mainly through Berkley & at the Bay Bridge entrance with hundreds of other cars. The Golden Gate is beautiful especially when they used to light it up before 9/11 I’m sure, but the Bay Bridge is just impressive!!! We arrived at the Hilton in the city and checked in around 8.00pm then rugged up in our coats and umbrella and headed out to check out the city and shops (Christmas decorations yeay!!) It was nice to walk around even if it was raining, San Fran is a lot like New York which was a little weird, spending time without the boys feels strange but it was long overdue having an adult conversation without kids thinking they can be involved. We got some nice pics and we did little shopping then when the shops closed, (earlier than I expected being Christmas) then we ended up at a little diner that Bruce loves and I had some sweet potato fries & a burger, but it was all about the fries (YUM) and Bruce had a really nice (once he got the right one) omelet. The Hilton was beautiful and we enjoyed being walking distance from everything around us, we walked around in the daylight the next morning then checked out, jumped into the car and drove around looking at places that Karen (Cendro a San Fran local) gave us to check out which was great, we drove through local places and got to see the not tourist places, we even had what she called the best Mexican in San Fran for lunch, which seems to be a consensus because the line was huge and the lunch was very yummy so we got to experience a real local secret YUM!!! Who would’ve thought the Hultgren’s and Mexican food? We drove up to Twin Peaks (apparently 360c view of San Fran but as you can imagine when it’s raining you don’t get to see too much, we took a picture (while laughing a lot) of the cloud cover and sent it to Karen with the comment – Pretty!!! It got laughs on both ends of the phone. It would be beautiful on a nice day though….. We headed home, made a couple of stops at Borders stores on the way home and landed at the homestead around 5.00pm.
Sunday rolled around All Star Game Day, all three boys were very excited again, Bruce was coaching in both games and the t-shirts had all three names so it was a good Hultgren day!! The boys didn’t win but they had some fun and we went over to the Dennis’ for dinner after which was a nice way to finish the weekend and start the boys holidays.
Second last week before we leave was upon us (also Christmas week) Our DII (Work girls) lunch was cancelled due to schedules so I spent the day packing and trying to get the kids to pack. I was left wondering where is the line between teaching the kids to do it themselves and having to watch and help with repack and complain etc and just bloody doing it yourself because it would take less than half the time LITERALLY!!! It took us the better part of the day for them to pack up just their rooms can anyone else feel the frustration as I’m writing and remembering this! Tuesday was a little of the same for me, packing etc the boys catching up with their friends, Christian (Conner’s basketball friend) came over for a sleepover and Jamieson headed over to Cam’s place for the night. So it was still four of us at Franklin Basketball just a different four. Franklin still looked frustrating as were some of the old freshman mum’s that I knew from last year’s team. New coach, new kids, different look and lots of boy ego’s – good luck. They won but they weren’t the best games to watch…it was nice to go and say good bye to everyone, Bruce liked being able to say goodbye to the other coaches and his freshman boys from last year….it looks like when he takes the boys on their basketball trip in a couple of years there will be some games against Franklin which will be a full circle moment for us all, especially Conner who did camp with some of them. Wednesday night we were lucky enough to be taken out to dinner by Jamieson grade 1&3 teacher Mrs Sack (who we love!!- she is just an awesome teacher) we went to Texas roadhouse for steaks, it was a nice salad that I had and I think the boys enjoyed their steaks so it was a nice dinner and another sad goodbye….she is an original and more importantly she got Jamieson and loved his energy!!! (that’s how she put it – her nickname for him was ‘Tigger’)
Thursday we had our PocketAngels lunch which was fun, we all just sat around chatted and had some yummy Mexican for lunch it was a nice last meal for all the main Pocket Angels people….Friday arrived before we knew it, Bruce went out for some meetings and I went over to Paula’s in the morning then over to visit Karen in the afternoon, the boys were all playing while they could. We had some dinner then went out to look at Christmas lights, which is always fun and ended the night at the Cendros for drinks. It wasn’t too late a night for us…pretty much all of the presents were done so it was just a matter of putting everything together around the piddly little Christmas tree and heading off to bed – EXHAUSTED…long week!!
Merry Christmas – Jamieson woke up around 7.00am then Conner kind of got woken up around 7.45am, presents didn’t take too long this year, what with us leaving the country and all but it was a nice quiet morning in our PJ’s watching NBA basketball on TV, playing with presents etc…. Let’s see, Conner got a couple of Kobe Bryant frames for his wall, Jamieson got a surf fishing rod, they both got collector’s edition Monopoly which they played constantly for the next two days, Jamieson got a metal detector, they got clothes – der and that’s all I can think of right now, you know there was a lot more just what that is I have no recollection. We had ham for breakfast and lunch (pretty laid back) and all showered and got dressed mid afternoon. We headed over to Paula’s after the Lakers game finished and had a nice leftovers dinner and one last Christmas together with Paula, Steve and the boys. It was the perfect quiet Christmas and Bruce thought it was a great way to spend the day.
December 26th – big emotional day!! Paula picked me up early and we went out to grab some post Christmas bargains, the problem is that the stores aren’t bringing in anywhere near as much stock as they used to so there’s not always a lot left. They have a lot of their sales before Christmas too…. We grabbed a few things but nothing to write home about. We had open house in the afternoon which only saw us get a few visitors, Cam and his family came over then David and his family came over to say goodbye…so that wasn’t a good start. We headed over to the Cendro’s for our goodbye party around 5.00pm and everyone had arrived by 5.30 – 30+ people was awesome but it was a nice night which meant all the kids (mostly boys) could play out in the street, big dinner bought by everyone which was very yummy….especially considering I didn’t have to make anything yeay for me!! The group shot turned out fabulous accept for Ruthy’s head being behind Julian and little Carlos’ head just made it, it was the best of the five we took and Karen did the whole photoshop elements to make us look better and I think in black & white it’s going to be awesome…..apparently it’s coming to be put on our wall on a United flight with Carlos or Kristie soon.
Then around 9.00pm everyone started leaving at that was it for me, a lot of them we were still going to see but the Charles’ were the first to go and that set me off…. Look at pics from later in the night and you can see I have to icky puffy eyes etc – not pretty. Carlos and I had drinks and ate Mac n Cheese together; Karen and Mike enjoyed seeing Belinda have a few drinks we got home around midnight and fell into bed literally…it was a really fun night just not ready to say goodbye to my American family.
The next morning was hard to get going but up we got up, I started to pack at 9.00am, Bruce made me stop and took me out for lunch then back to it for the rest of the day. The boys went over to Cam’s and ended up sleeping over so after Bruce finished work we both got stuck into it and finished up falling into bed around 1.00am can anyone say TIRED!!! Tuesday was moving out day – Bruce went out late morning and picked up the truck he got most of the boxes in the truck before the guys turned up and they did 3 loads before the garage and house was empty of all the stuff we are sending home as well as lot s of boxes of spinners. The boys stayed at Kevin’s on the Tuesday night while Bruce & I stayed at Paula’s.
Wednesday 29th December 2010 – Bruce & I spent Wednesday(Justin’s birthday) at the house, Paula & I cleaned, Bruce was in and out, then I was officially out of there Wednesday afternoon (Bruce still had his office to do). Wednesday night we had nice pizza for Justin’s birthday and Robert & Andrea came to the party which was fun. It was a great last night…. Exhausted we were all in bed by 10.30pm. The kids were tired too but still a little tired so they slept, although if they didn’t I don’t think I would’ve known.
Thursday 30th December – our last day!
We had some breakfast Bruce ran errands and tried to tie up any loose ends all day poor guy , I had lunch with Paula and Karen and then a few of them came over to the house to say goodbye. I finished packing all the stuff away around 4.00 once everyone had changed for the airport. We all jumped into the cars and off we went around 5.30… Paula and I in her car and all the boys (Carlos included) in our car. Traffic wasn’t too bad and we arrived at the airport around 7.30-8.00pm. Checked in and started the waiting game, Carlos and Kristie were confident we would get on the plane but weren’t sure on the business class. Kristie had been flying so Carlos went to meet her through security and we sat outside with Paula and had some dinner – you can imagine the butterflies and nausea…. Around 9.00pm we said goodbye to Paula and made our way (with all our 7 pieces of on board luggage) through security. Carlos and Kristie were waiting for us at the gate and we waited and waited. We were the last ones called but no business class for us…at least we were on the plane and Carlos had a lot of people he knew working so we would be looked on the make sure all was well. Another good bye although not for long, they will head down our way so we know we will see them and soon….
And we’re off…. We got on the plane and realized one we were sitting behind a lady with two young kids, mmmmm and two there were spare rows at the back of the plane so we grabbed three of those. Jamieson got the back one (4 seats) for after he’d thrown up and then could sleep – which is exactly what he did. Although we did have the flight attendant worried about him being sick, we were very matter of fact about it and once we were off and he was asleep she came down and said ‘you were right’. ‘Yep’
Conner wasn’t happy with his two seat row and started complaining so he got the 4 seat row with Bruce and I scrunched into the 2 seat row, I was so exhausted it didn’t matter and we took off and I was OUT! I woke up 3-4 hours later to find Conner asleep laying down and poor Bruce sitting up with the blanket over his head to keep it dark and apparently warm although I don’t think he ever got real sleep. I woke up and dozed so all in all I got about 6-7 hours which I think was the same as Conner. Bruce not so lucky, we played musical seats so Bruce could get some sleep on the big row but he said it didn’t work. Jamieson woke up a few times but not for long and he eventually woke up at breakfast time. As usual I ate to stop the sickly feeling, Bruce and Conner did – Jamieson refused to eat airplane food. All in all for the back of the plane that had a lot of little kids on it did really well, the only ones we heard from at all were the family that I mentioned before and most of that was this women didn’t know how to whisper while she was talking to her kids walking up the aisle….
We landed in Sydney (“WOOO” - which is what we always do when we land in Aust – it’s from some TV ad we saw in the US right after we moved there, made us laugh everytime we saw it and now it’s a tradition we do) as always we had to go through another security check which I will never understand, we just got off an international flight and were still in a secure area, but hey that’s what we have to do. We got into the lounge and found a vending machine and TWISTIES – so it was 8.30am and I was having twisties for breakfast and I didn’t care.
We got business class on the flight from Sydney which was nice to have the room and the individual screens although Jamieson was still white turning grey and didn’t like the flight at all, I think that fact that he hadn’t eaten for 16 hours had a bit to do with it, but like clockwork before we got off the plane (yes, we made it the whole flight) he threw up after we landed, we cleaned up and walked off the plane towards customs. We had landed early so we were ahead of schedule, but the time we got our bags and put them on four trolley’s yes, that’s how much luggage we had. We made our way through the last check, sniffer dog, very cute and walked through the doors to find mum and dad not there yet. I changed into my jeans (arh) and mum and dad arrived we walked all the trolleys to the cars and piled them all in and mum and dad drove back to Ocean Grove and we headed to Eltham to see Maureen.
***********************************************************
So that was our USA adventure. I guess I have a pretty good diary from our time here and it’s been at times hard getting it out on time but in the end it’s always here and it’s a testament to what we did while we were there.
Thanks for taking the journey with us, I hope it’s been as fun for you guys reading it as it has been for us living it. What a once in a lifetime experience we’ve had, we’ve made wonderful friends we call family and seen some gorgeous parts of the world. If you get the chance, try to make it to that part of the planet; and to those who fitted us in on their visits we’re glad you got to experience our little part of the world for just a little while, we appreciated you coming.
It’s now January 2011 and the Hultgren’s are back in Australia ready for what comes next….
Signing off -
Belinda, Bruce Conner & Jamieson
xxxx
A note from Bruce:
I want to write a HUGE Thank You to my gorgeous wife for all the words, the thousands and thousands of words she’s put together during the past 4 years and 8 months. It is an amazing diary of what we experienced and I’m sure once we read it back, laugh about a lot and remember – the effort will have been more than worth it.
I want to write a HUGE Thank You to my gorgeous wife for all the words, the thousands and thousands of words she’s put together during the past 4 years and 8 months. It is an amazing diary of what we experienced and I’m sure once we read it back, laugh about a lot and remember – the effort will have been more than worth it.
It takes a special lady to do what she just did and for that – the 3 boys in the family will be forever grateful. I Love You Belinda – more than you know.
Your Husband & Best Friend
No comments:
Post a Comment