Green green grass

We’re home…
…home to a rainy day, so we don’t miss England so much, after all. Thanks, weather people!
…home to a lot of laundry, but a remarkably clean house, thanks to Dr. T., who so thoughtfully scoured the place top to bottom before he left to join us in the UK.
…home to some very thirsty plants.
…home without our cat, who’s still away at my mother’s summer camp for felines.
…home to our own beds! Not to mention our own kitchen, our own laundry machines (and don’t even get me started on English washing machines), our own car, our own Internet set-up, etc., etc.
…home.
We were all sad to leave England, where we spent a wonderful, peaceful, familial month. Colin was particularly upset about leaving – while we were there, he picked up a British inflection and a love of tea; frankly I think he’d adapt faster than the rest of us if we were to relocate. He’s born to be British, it seems. Maybe we’ll send him to work with Bill Bryson.
We had a better time than I could have imagined – even if I did, in the end, fall off a horse! We were blessed to be there when Marley arrived, and Moor Wood and Milton Keynes really do feel like home, albeit without the aforementioned beds, kitchen, and so on. I will miss being horsey, and I will miss the World’s Greatest In-Laws more than I can express.
Having said that, I am also relieved to feel really happy to be home – I’ve been walking around the house – MY house – with a huge grin on my face all morning. I’m looking forward to being urban again after a month of going country. I’m anxious to get reacquainted with the cat, and to see my parents and my friends – for whom I have chocolate, as added incentive to get together sooner rather than later. I have really enjoyed the culinary expertise of the WGMiL for the past month – as the added two pounds will attest – but I’m looking forward to preparing my own menus and cooking in my own kitchen. I know where everything is!
Oh, and since the vacation is officially over, I can get back into planning my fall courses. I’ve been predictably remiss in working on work for the past month, but I am genuinely excited about this term’s courses, so hi-ho, hi-ho, here we go.
We’re home.