Time For Me to Fly

     I am so excited to be flying home to the states next Friday.   I am so excited to be able to have a little bit of home and to see some of my old friends and my family.   I am so excited to be able to buy bananas for less than $12/ kilo or to buy shoes without  blowing my budget for the month.
     I am worried about flying home to the states next Friday.  I am worried that it won't be the experience as I remember or want it to be.  I'm worried that I will, gasp, miss Australia and the life I have carved out for myself here.  I'm worried that my short NYC visit will just be huge hassle as I have no idea how to navigate the city with a toddler.
    I am a person in limbo - not quite indoctrinated to oz just yet, but no longer of the place where I was born.  The talk about the economy and the upcoming election makes me worry that the US is once again headed in a dark direction that I don't want to go.  I like living in a country that takes care of it's citizens, (even though sometimes I feel like it's 1995 and I wish it was 2011 like the rest of the world).  It's nice.  I don't feel like a have not.  I feel quite happily middle class.  We still worry about money, sure, but we don't worry that if one of us gets hurt we will lose the house.
     The food here is expensive, but it's good food - not loads of crap processed foods in the grocery store.  The clothes here, well, not so good.  I've been saving my money to recharge my wardrobe while I'm home.  I even long for an Old Navy or Target, (as well as hoping to score some fabulous clothes at the outlets).  I long for an H&M.  An H&M!  Sigh.  I used to love to shop.  Now, I just turn away and go shopping in my closet.  Not for long :)

Things that  like this month about Australia:

 - It's Autumn and some of the trees here in Melbourne do change colors and the leaves are all over the sidewalks.  I love the smell of the leaves in fall.
 - Warm days and cool nights.
 - The sun is not as searing during the day
  - I found a hair product that may actually work on my hair.  (It has not adjusted very well to this hemisphere).
 - Hot cross buns at Sourdough Kitchen - Yum!!!!
 - Nora is almost 2!
 - Easter chocolate - although I have been trying to be SO good this year since I have finally been losing the baby weight and am almost back in my old jeans.
 - Ice skating at the Icehouse (in the Docklands) in a rink that is like the disco roller rinks of my youth - awesome!
 - the Botanical Gardens
 - I have been driving (yes, on the other side of the road) and my parallel parking skills are still sharp as a pin :)  Now to venture beyond Yarraville and surrounds.........
 -  School holidays, even with the skids, because it is a nice break from my same old routine.
 - 3 playgrounds within a 10 minute walk or (or less) of our house?  Actually this is a year round thing, but it's awesome if you have a 2 year old who can run and run and run and run..............
 - All of the kids form my mother's group will be celebrating birthdays, even though I will miss the first rounds, (which reminds me, I have some nifty gifts to get ready)
 -   I am moving forward with  my small business idea. Still don't know how it will all turn out but I'll have a logo for it this week.  And maybe a FB page in the next couple of months.  When I get back from the states I will be doing a lot of sewing........... for better or worse.

    So, 24 hours of travel with a 2 year old.  Wish me luck.  And an extra set of washable crayons.............