There's no place like home!

Back Home again at last!
The last 3 weeks have been busy, disrupted and really tiring.
First, a week teaching in Johannesburg, driving from Pretoria each day and trying to feel like a Joburg-ite as I braved the traffic each day. I cwertainly felt less scared by the end of the week, but I still haven't learnt to turn my wheels sideways so I can fit into a gap about 1 cm bigger than my car as most of the Joburg drivers seem to be able to do! The teaching was easy and it was wonderful to stay with |Sarah and get to know her new little kitten, Harriet.

The next week was at the ICT in the Classroom Conference at St John's school in Johannesburg. A good conference where I learnt a lot of interesting things and met up with old friends and made new ones. Kudos to Maggie for the wonderful Twitter backchannel which gave people a chance to comment on what wasgoing on. Very interesting reading.

Then the last week was spent in Botswana at the Pan African reading Conference - not as stimulating or useful as the week before's conference - too academic really for me. And some of the delegates were complaining that it wasn't academic enough! My presentations went well, I made new friends and connected with people who will be useful contacts, and made friends with people who will become close friends, but on the whole, I was quite grumpy about how much it was costing me compared to the value I felt I was getting.

Yesterday I finally got home! Bliss! Pete fetched me at the airport and I was so glad to see him - my dear friend, husband and companion whom I have missed so much the last few weeks. Then I was met at home by an ecstatic dog, my precoius son, Sihle whom I haven't seen for 3 weeks, Kevin, Lindi and two happy cats. I really felt that I was back where I belonged.

Home is where the heart is, and my heart was back in its real place, as I snuggled on the couch under a blanket, eating veg soup that Pete had made, chatted to Kev as I had my bath, climbed into bed with 2 happy cats - one on each side, and slept in my own bed. All that could have made it more perfect would have been to have Sarah, Nic, Riaan and ray with us too.

I know we go away again in two weeks and I know we will enjoy the time on the Wild Coast, but right now, I am content to be home, happy to be sleeping in my own bed, playing with my animals, connecting with Pete and the kids, and being myself again.

East, West, home's best!