Last days are sadly here!

1-5 t/m 10-5

This last week and a half have been great and a little weird. Since it’s May, it’s more real that the end is coming! Sounds so doomsday haha. I worked a couple hours on Monday, so Katie and Kevin could go to Crossfit. The rest of the day I chilled, went downtown and strolled around there, grabbed a Costa coffee and did a little packing.
The rest of the week I worked normal hours. On Tuesday I went to Crossfit with the boys. Katie had some errands to run, so she asked me if I could go with them. There has to be a parent (or au-pair in their case) there during the lesson. It was funny to see! Tadgh gave the lesson. Apparently there were more kids than normal, so the ‘structure’ of the class wasn’t really there. It was a nice thing to see haha. The kids had a lot of fun though and were running.. I mean exercising the whole time! In the evening I didn’t do much.
Naoise got the chicken pox on Wednesday, so that kinda sucked. It meant that he was home all day, but we couldn’t go anywhere really. He got them a lot worse than Conaill did, so he was a little under the weather. Sometimes a little to ‘man-sick’ than anything else haha. He was lying on the couch at one point and was saying to Iarlaith and Conaill ‘get me this’ and ‘be nice to me, I’m sick’. Funniest thing was: they did it!
On Thursday morning I went training and started work at 10. Katie dropped Iarlaith and me off at the playground in the afternoon. She was taking Naoise, Conaill and Fiadh with her to do some jobs. It was such nice weather, so it was perfect to be at the playground. Iarlaith had a blast! It was actually so sunny and hot, that we left after about 1,5 hours. We made a pitstop at Costa, with money Katie gave me, to get some drinks. I walked home with Iarlaith in the buggy. In the evening I skyped with the parents and watched some Shameless.
It felt weird for it to be Friday. It came way to fast this time! The day itself went by like normal, except for Naoise being home and Fiadh having the chicken pox as well now. Other than that, normal day. I did some more painting with the kids. Iarlaith loves it! He doesn’t really make anything, just mixes the colors and puts some on paper. But it’s fun to see them having that much fun with it! I got Naoise to get Katie’s hair dryer, so we could finish the toilet roll animals quicker this time. The day flew by! In the evening I went to ‘Guardians of the Galaxy volume 2’ FINALLY!! With Patrice. The movie was so fun! I got another free drink this time. That actually meant that I went to the cinema 16 times since arriving in Mallow. BOOM!

Weekend.. last weekend! It was very weird waking up that morning. Last Saturday. I had breakfast downstairs with the fam and went downtown with Patrice in the afternoon. We went to Costa for a coffee and had a nice chat. After hitting some more stores, we went home. In the evening I met up with Laurel and Patrice and we went to Bella’s for dinner! I got some wine for us earlier, so we had 2 bottles for the three of us. Safe to say, we got a little tipsy. After the lovely dinner, we went to Ocana’s for the rest of the evening. I saw Katie there, she was out for Lisa’s birthday. I went over to say hi, which felt weird but also so cool and normal. It was more like saying hi to a friend when you meet them on a night out. The band that was there that night played mostly 80’s songs, so I had some good lipsync-game! The night out was amazing! It ended with some fries, of course.

Sunday.. hangoverday! This day was reserverd for sleeping in.. having an attempt at sleeping in.. and just relaxing. This seemed to be needed! I got woken up around 10 and went downstairs for breakfast. I went upstairs pretty fast again and just laid in bed, watching Netflix. That is pretty much what I did all day. In the evening the fam had prepared this lovely good-bye dinner! Katie’s parents were there, so were Kevin’s. Naoise made me a lovely card for my ‘party’ and there were balloons! Kevin’s mom brought some food and so did Katie’s mom. Katie herself made the main course. The first thing they asked when I got downstairs was what kind of wine I wanted. In my head I answered ‘NONE!!!! Barf’, but I said white. I didn’t want to be impolite on my party haha. Dinner was lovely! It was so much, that my foodbaby was at least 7 months. All the grandparents gave me little presents, which was so nice of them. I got showered with compliments, that made me tear up. After cleaning up, we all went upstairs. I watched some more Netflix.

When I got downstairs on Monday morning, Conaill was a little confused. He asked if I was minding them. When my answer was yes, he so nicely responded with ‘why’. I forgive him because he’s almost 5 haha. I asked if it was okay if I stayed two more days. Conaill was indifferent to it haha, goodbye party means goodbye, but if it was up to Naoise I could stay forever! Gotta love kids ! I minded them that day as any other day. It felt really weird to me though, because it was my last full day. I enjoyed every hug, every ‘I love you’, every kiss and every argument that day. In the evening I went out for dinner. I went to Bella’s again haha, but this time with Laurel, Patrice and Hannah. I really enjoyed my time, but it also meant that I wasn’t going to see them again. We went to Alberts after for one last drink. Saying goodbye to Hannah and especially Laurel was sad. When I was walking home with Patrice, I had this pit in my stomach. These girls that you’ve hung out with a lot.. you weren’t gonna see them for a long time. Not never again, because I’m definitely gonna go to New-Zealand (so be prepared Laurel). And the rest is all in Europe, so not far.

Tuesday was here. In the morning I went for my last training session with Tadgh. You gotta love commitment haha. He actually hurt his back that weekend, but still made time for training with me. I suppose the shots the doc gave him helped. Unfortunately for me this one was filled with running. He was trying to kill me. Even though it felt good after, at that time I wanted to kill him and throw up. I only had to work a half day. Katie went to Crossfit, so I had all the kiddies. Katie bought one of those blue shells yesterday, that you can fill with sand on one side and water on the other. The kids were having a ball, especially Iarlaith when he got it all to himself (Conaill and Naoise were bored haha). I took Fiadh outside and we just cuddles and watched Iarlaith made a mess haha. It was really nice. Until there was a Lego incident that needed my help haha. When Katie got home, I went upstairs to take a shower and start packing. I started with all my enthousiasm and thought I’d be done fairly quickly. All the clothes were rolled up, so it just had to be put in the suitcase. Just. Quickly. Those were not words that came to mind after 2,5 hours. Every time I turned around, I found more stuff that needed to go in. The shoes were especially nasty! I had a break around 5, because I was meeting Barbara and Patrice for a coffee at Costa and a nice Lemon Drizzle cake. Barbara had class yesterday, so she couldn’t come to dinner. And of course we had to say goodbye, or better yet bye. We talked for a good hour and then the dreadful goodbye came. This time the tears won a bit. But here again.. Spain isn’t that far haha!
Katie made a lovely dinner as always (chicken, salsa, roasted vegetables) and I gave the fam my presents. They were a bit hit. The kids loved theirs and so did Kevin and Katie. Kevin used the mug immediately haha. They also loved the scrapbook I made, which was a better reaction than last time. I got a present as well. I got this super nice card, filled with words of praise, a magazine for the train ride and a Claddagh ring. I thought about getting one myself and now I’m glad I didn’t. The Claddagh's distinctive design features two hands clasping a heart, and usually surmounted by a crown. The elements of this symbol are often said to correspond to the qualities of love (the heart), friendship (the hands), and loyalty (the crown). I knew I was getting the ring, because Katie asked for a ring earlier so we would be sure it would fit. It was a perfect evening! I went upstairs for a little bit to finish some more packing. Before the boys went up to bed, I went downstairs to say goodbye. Then again there were some tears. Naoise was the only one that had a little bit of concept that I was leaving. Just before the kids went up, Paddy (Kevin’s dad) came by to say a proper goodbye. This was so nice. He as well had only words of praise. In between all of it Patrice came by for the last time. I still had some stuff for her, so she came by the house. I was pretty emotional, so here again tears. I had so much fun with her, with the chicken thieves, stitches and vegetables haha! After that, I went back into the living room, where the boys were playing with the new Lego. The goodbye to the kiddies was hard. They must have thought ‘why is Lottie crying and hugging me so much’ haha. I am really gonna miss the little weirdo’s. Right before they went up, little Fiadh gave me a smile that just makes you melt. I went upstairs, cried a little and watched some Netflix before going to bed.

I set my alarm for 4.50 that morning. I wanted to have time to pack the last things, make some coffee and breakfast. Katie made a humongous scone the day before, special for me. I packed it with me for the train, because I wasn’t hungry in the morning. Leaving the room was weird. It seemed so empty with all my stuff gone. Katie took me to the station in the morning. She walked with me all the way to the platform. This was great, because I had one big suitcase, one small one, my backpack and my handbag. The help was appreciated! We talked until the train got there and managed to keep it dry. But when the bell rang, we both couldn’t anymore. It was saying goodbye to a friend. I was so lucky with this family. They made me feel at home immediately. Talking with Kevin and Katie was so easy, that I never felt homesick! I could say and ask anything. Saying goodbye to Katie was the last one. When I got into my seat, after getting my luggage in the right stop, I let my tears flow. Djesus.. there were some. There was guy sitting a few rows in front of me, on the other side of the train. He could just see my face through the seats. He must have thought I just broken up with someone. It just had to get out and I think I cried for about 30 min. It’s a strange thing, but I felt a little better after. I texted with Katie, Laurel, Patrice, but also with people from home. It was a train ride of all emotions… literally haha! The journey itself went by okay. I got into the bus to the airport. I checked in and had myself a Starbucks. I didn’t have any trouble with my suitcases luckily! I did have one thing happen at the terminal. I went to the toilet and when I got back, this guy asked me if I had a license or anything in my pocket. I found it weird he would ask, but I checked anyway. I didn’t feel my ID in my pocket anymore. Apparently it fell out when I went to the toilet. But luckily someone handed it to the lady from Ryanair, so I got it back. Could you imagine what would have happened? I don’t want to haha!
When I got to Eindhoven Airport, 7 minutes earlier, I was collected by my lovely parents. It was very nice to see them again! Even though I still felt kinda sad about my other family, the McCarthy’s. I do know that I will see them again! I promised Naoise I’d visit!!!

Thank you for bearing with me! Thanks for all the people reading my blogs and a special thanks to the people replying below !

XO