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You're going home,
You're going home,
You're going home,
You're going home, Ha ha ha, Flee's going home
You're going home,
You're going home,
You're going home,
You're going home,
Home, Home, Home,
It's where the heart is,
Home, Home, Home,
It's where you'll be soon - ex-traveller!!! MWAH HA HA!
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So you must be looking forward to it then eh!?
All I have to say about that is.... Your time will come Fonfarta, cheeky sod.. oh and don't forget... if it weren't for me.....(oh ok, and Andy... he'll only cry if I don't give him some credit for ALF!!!!!!!! ;0) and just to get you back for your cheekiness.... I came across the above photo of you yesterday.. lounging in our little bungalow in Koh Phan-gan... decided the world needed some amusing today and this was the ideal way to provide it!! 
But anyway, back to me being a celeb for the day (or as long as I could stretch it out for!)..... I did finally manage those last few steps though and walk through those doors to find two beaming smiles, lots of hugs and the inevitable tears from Mum (oh, ok and from me and Lot too!) It was like something out of 'Hello, Goodbye!' (which, for those of you that don't know, is a comedy Aussie real life show of hello's and goodbye's at Sydney Airport - had Mitz in tears every week, without fail, bless her!!), It was an awesome moment, the only thing missing - apart from Dad obviously - was my baby brother; thanks to the last minute faffing with my flight, he'd not been able to get the time off work, given he didn't know which day I'd be home until about 2 days before I decided I'd let him off!
After we'd settled down a little and got a random to take the above picture (to which Lottie's response when I asked said random was 'trust you to pick the only cute guy around' - what can I say... where's the sense in asking someone not cute?! ;0) anyway, back to my point, once we'd calmed down a little, done the photo sesh, we decided rather than get straight on with the journey home we'd go for a cheeky coffee and a proper chat. Given I'd had ridiculously little sleep over the last few days I was feeling surprisingly with it. Whilst supping on my hot milk (yes, I'm still a child and love the stuff!), my first purchase in sterling for a year, and catching up with the family, we decided we'd take a little detour on the way home and surprise the grandparents!
Nanny had called while we were having our drinks and the signal was bad so we thought it'd be nice to pop in on them. In truth I have to admit, despite finding that the tiredness was creeping up on me a little, I was quite liking extending the journey a bit.. I guess when I walked through the doors of Mum's, I really would have come full circle so prolonging it a bit was just more procrastinating from me in vain attempts to prolong the trip any which way i could!! ;0) It was fab to surprise them though, I do love surprises - whether giving or receiving them, they're always ace! Greeted with hugs, kisses and a variation of Grandad's classic saying 'don't play with the pixie's!!' - the variation implying, I may have played with my fair share of Pixie's over the past year, I believe!! Cheeky Grandad!! ;0) we sat down for more tea - I was definitely back in England!!
After relaxing on the familiar sofa's in my grandparents front room, sleepiness was getting to me a little and Lot and Mum both had to get to work for the afternoon so we headed for home. 
The excitment of seeing my baby brother over-ruling the scariness of finally completing that circle from door to door. While Mum and Lot had to get back to work, Map had the afternoon off so they were swopping shifts on Welcome Home Flee Watch!The pic above was obviously taken after Map's arrival home.. following more emotional reunions.. in the end I was only on my own for an hour or so before he arrived home, and even then I had Lolli, Mum's new kitten to play with (the cutie in the pic here - and no I'm not talking about you Map!!) It was fab to see him and for the rest of the afternoon we vegged out on Mum's funky corner sofa - a new addition since my departure - eating rubbish, catching up, watching TV and making Lolli go a little bit loopy with the aid of the laser pointer ebay had given me as part of a leaving gift.... all in all it was lovely to just chill out at home.. and also a little surreal to be sat there as if the last year hadn't happened!
Except it had (I'm pleased to say) and a few relaxed hours later, the others arrived home from work, Map went back to work, and it was time for the next - and this time unexpected - reunion.... 
unbeknown to me my sister, cousin and Sian were coming round for cake and champers! It really hadn't actually occured to me that I'd be up to anything that evening so it was a fab surprise when they turned up and popped the cork on the bubbly... settling down with me for tales, gossip and lots of laughs! In truth, the evening didn't last too long - my eyelids had a life of their own and so, fairly early, at least compared to my recent Buenos Aires fuelled sleep pattern, I headed off to sleep in my own bed for the first time in a little over a year! Despite the jetlag, it had been a wicked day and a fab homecoming! I should go away more often!!!
It was however, just for one night that I slept in my own bed... I'd managed to choose a busy weekend to come home on... November's a hectic month for birthdays and the day after arriving home was party time in London.. a joint one for my lovely friends Nicki and Zoe - where Katy, my partner in mischief for the first part of South America and my fab friend Kate - would also be.... I did however manage to make the most of my bed and slept away the following morning most contentedly.
My brother, having worked late, was also still in bed when I woke up, and found himself the unwitting recipient of his big sister's comfort seeking... yep, on waking up in a room on my own, a tad disorientated to say the least, I found myself a little unsure of what to do.. so, naturally, I skipped into my brother's room, got in his bed and started chattering away! This caused some amusement amoung Ma and Map... what do you mean it's unusual?! I'm not used to waking up in a room on my own... I needed a dorm buddy.. who better than my little brother?! All we needed now were bunkbeds and 4-6 other people!! ;0)
Anyway... much as I don't think Ma was too impressed with my arrival home being so brief, I couldn't miss the girl's birthday and was so excited to be seeing everyone.. this was what coming home was all about... seeing my family and friends that I'd missed whislt away! So off I headed to London, I was staying at Kate's that night and again it felt somewhat surreal to be in places that I hadn't been for so long but that hadn't changed a bit! Kinda scary in a way too.
So... after glamming ourselves up a little (i have to say, I was loving the novelty of having a choice of what to wear.. that hadn't happened for a while!!) we headed into town to join the party... that was when I really felt like a celeb... greeted with actual full on screams by the girls, an audience of all the other guests and several million 'ah, so you're the guest of honour' responses to meeting me throughout the evening. I don't mind admitting 
I was kinda liking this Celebrity Status!! ;0) It was definetely spurring me on through the jetlag anyway which in truth, was actually proving pretty easy - I was still feeling surprisingly spritely.. maybe it was the adrenalin from getting home.. or maybe it was the G&T's!! Either way, I was quite liking this homecoming/reunion lark... let's see how long I can milk it for eh!! (anyone spot a girl still in denial that she's back in the real world??! ;0)
It didn't end there though... oh no... there were more reunions to be had, one in particular that I was ridiculously excited about... for those die hard few of you (or 'crazy people' as I affectionately like to call you!) that actually read my ramblings on here and have done since my departure, you'll know that back in May-ish I got the very happy news that my lovely best mate Jules was set to become Mummy Jules.... well, part of my decision to come home now instead of extend my trip any longer, was that I was dangerously close to missing the entire pregnancy not to mention the birth and thus my debut as 'Fun Auntie Floozie' (as dubbed by Jules and Ol - and yes, I know not technically an Auntie, or a Floozie for that matter.. just for the record!!) and so it was that, slightly hungover after the birthday festivities, I hopped on another train to St Albans to see the parents-to-be... luckily my vibes for her not to drop before I made it there had got through somehow and it was with huge excitment that I greeted my lovely friend (and a half!) and not forgetting her lovely hubby too... both of which will no doubt kill me for putting the below pic on here but it had to be done I'm afraid Ma and Pa Clement!!!
The next 2 days were spent leisurely catching up on the past year with the troublesome twosome (soon to be trio), chilling out, lunching, gossiping etc etc... and generally enjoying being with Jules again, I'd missed her lots and lots - as reflected in the several lengthy phonecalls from various places around the world, not to mention all the emails!!
So, there you have it, my first few days back in the real world.. and I still hadn't stayed in one place for long enough to unpack my bags.. in fact, my backpack was still packed, sitting on my bedroom floor awaiting my arrival home, teasing me with the temptation of just picking it up and doing it all over again... and trust me, that temptation's not an easy one to ignore... but for now i was still basking in the celeb status, the unpacking could wait... anyone spot yet another 'it's not quite over' procrastination tactic??! ;0) xxx
