Going Home Day.

The usual packing, “cleaning the villa” routine occurred on time. I took the kids down to the park to get them out of everyone’s hair as everyone set about cleaning the villa ready for my sister and her crew (arriving an hour after we left).

Ethan was keen to get home. He had really missed his mam. He is 8 and it was his first time away from home – poor lad.

Karen’s pain was on the up. The patches were really drying up under the heat again and were probably next to useless most of the day. Karen had got up from the villa table the night before and literally couldn’t walk. Her bones were set in place. She had to coax her body into the walking motions to ease up a bit. Poor kp.

Today, things were worse, but as usual she kept it mostly to herself.

We arrived at the airport bang on time. Our bag was overweight, so I had to empty loads of stuff into a rucksack I was carrying. Unwittingly, I put in loads of liquids (perfumes/moisturisers), but they still let us through security. We went straight to the Burger King as the kids were hungry.

By the time we had ordered for 10 and ate the meal, it was 25 minutes to the flight. The screen was saying “boarding”. The fag crew had to have the fag, which left it with 20 minutes to go. As fags were lit, they had announced “Final Boarding Call” TWICE !!! I ran ahead to the gate (OTHER END OF THE AIRPORT), and as I got close, we heard on the airport tannoy system…..

Airport :- Would Mr and Mrs POWELARD please proceed immediately to Gate 2 ?

Yikes. I was the first there and I had no choice but to play the “disabled” card.

dp :- Sorry we’re late, my wife is disabled and we were all the way over at Burger King ?  Are we in time ?
The “disabled” thing undoubtedly helped and he said we had “just” made it in time. Karen was the last to board the plane and we were met with the usual stares from “cocky” passengers who were “on time”.

For takeoff on the way TO Spain, Ethan had kept his parka top over his head so he couldn’t see anything. For the takeoff returning to England, he watched the whole thing

Karen had to walk a LONG way at the airport in Alicante and a LONG way at Durham Tees. It definately took its toll as this morning she was at a real low ebb ! The pain was too much and she was “fed up”. A downer was imminent. But, thankfully, it was Patch Change day today and after a snooze she was feeling much better.

The excessive walking on the holiday was simply too much for her and we will definately be taking the wheelchair next time, regardless of the security measures in place !!!

Today has been filled with sleep for both of us, getting the dogs back from the kennels, and more sleep. It was well needed. We are not used to looking after kids for so long, and to be fair, the rest of the family did most of the “looking after” anyway, but it still tooks its toll and the sleep we have had today (Monday) really allowed us to feel fresher !!

Cracking Holiday ! Ethan is “over the moon” to be back with his mam. Karen’s pain is lowering with the patch and the codeine she has taken. So, HOPEFULLY, she will have a better week than the week before the holiday