spaced

well i am feeling pretty out of it at the moment - today has been a blur trying to get everything ready, i still have loads more to do and i am knackered. Aside from trying to actually pack there are so many fiddly things to do such as sort out banking stuff, check flight details, make sure we have everything printed out and of course tidy the flat which at the moment looks as though a bomb has hit it (a mighty big bomb at that)

i have no idea how i managed to fit everything in my case- well thats a lie - i fitted everything in and then i had to take stuff back out as it was too heavy -ooops, so i just transferred stuff into ricky's bag -

"whats that mr murray, you said you packed this bag yourself?" the customs officer booms as he pulls out a set of straighteners.

now it looks as though ricky's case is the heavier of the two but that is due to him having all of my toiletries (as you can imagine there are a few as i dont think you can buy shampoo in australia can you????) and i used to think of myself as a light packer - still at least i think we have everything we need. maybe i should try and sneak in a few more books!!

we said goodbye to little ron yesterday and he was dropped off at his new adopted parents - we had a fairly traumatic morning getting him through to glasgow - he doesnt like the car or getting his toenails clipped - but rikke assures me he is doing great- i have a feeling he wont want to come back home.

so we are off tomorrow - getting picked up by the taxi at 5.45 before our flight to heathrow at 7.30 - must admit am looking forward to seeing terminal 5 and doing a bit of shopping. Our flight to Tokyo is at midday and we land on wed morning at 9am (midnight our time) so we will be knacked but its so mad to think that this time tomorrow we will have only 5 hours until we touch down in japan - i am still finding it hard to believe but i am certainly getting more and more excited - no idea if i will sleep tonight - i hope so as i am shattered.

but anyway just wanted to write a last post before we set off - the next time will be from some far off land, am hoping it wont be too long before i can let you know what we have been up to

be good children, speak soon xx

Family Affair

Well since the last time i blogged a week has been and gone again, i really do think the days are starting to go faster. at midnight last night i turned to ricky and said this time in two weeks and we will just have landed in tokyo - except it wont be midnight there it will be 9am (oh i foresee some jetlag) - how mad is that. As if Tokyo wont be strange and bewildering enough we will arrive having been up for almost 24 hours and will have a full day ahead of us - this could prove fun. we will just need to try and sleep on the plane although i am thinking we will be too excited.

i have started to have some really weird dreams about going away which is leading me to become quite nervous (one has involved me losing ricky and ending up in morroco!!!!!) i am sure this will not happen - i wont lose ricky he will purposefully leave me somewhere.

since most travel plans are now in place we have now started to panick about what loose ends we need to tie up before we go ie the flat/cars/bills etc - the list of things to do seems to be getting longer but mr murray is taking control and is getting through it(albeit rather grumpily, i think the stress is kicking in). you would think we were leaving the country for 3 months or something. we literally have a tree full of paper we need to take with us with all our info/visas/confirmation bookings etc. i am sure we can cut this down somehow.

we are trying to catch up with as many of you as possible before we leave. Had a lovely meal with Alan and Phillipa last night -thanks so much for coming through guys it was fab to see you. we also had a really nice dinner with Jake and Rach and new wee baby Evie last week (so cute). its mad seeing our friends turn into responsible adults over night. there seems to have been a lot of people becoming responsible lately.

Had Ellis's christening on sunday which allowed us to head to cumnock for the weekend to see friends and family. It was lovely to catch up with everyone (even though we will see them again this weekend) and we had great time - we went out for lunch after church which was fabby doo and then sampled some of my mums scrumptious cake before heading back to russ and sands for a cuppa. Ellis looked so pretty in her (very old family heirloom) dress and Zoe was hilarious introducing everyone to her mum and dad during the service. I was looking after Nic's wee one Isla during the proceedings as Nic and Robert were godparents. She was so well behaved apart from ripping pages out the hymn book (extra money in the collection box from us) which to be honest i was finding extremely amusing. Amazing how church flies when you dont have to listen to the sermon as you are entertaining a child. i might borrow her for the next time.

Just wanted to say thanks so much to all who have sent cards and gifts - you really didnt have to, it was far too generous but we greatly appreciate the thought and look forward to using our new gadgets and gifts along the way. Not to single you out Sarah but the toilet tissue on the go dispenser i think was an extremely enlightening present which will prob be used very often. And on that bum note (see what i did there) i will sign off for now. catch you soon xx