''...a time for reflection...''

..we have been back in Iceland for just under a week and we all seem to be experiencing a whole range of much more positive emotions, tinged with the inevitable sadness of leaving those people and things we do actually like and love here ;-) !...
I know I keep going on about it but I will soooo miss the fantastic swimming pools in Iceland...on Friday pm T and I attempted to go swimming but the wind had been so strong the previous 24 hours that huge rocks had been blown from the beach onto the seaside walkways and we had been warned not to travel unless absolutely necessary, so even I admitted defeat and T and I went home (the boys were staying at F and K's), looked at houses for sale near Wakefield and got up ridiculously early on Saturday morning and went swimming under the light of the full moon, surrounded by the darkness and the snow..it was out-of-this-world and I will have to say it again..I will soooo miss the Icelandic swimming pools!!!
After our early start I was teaching and as I walked back home afterwards, I reflected upon how much I have learnt and gained from this experience..I will sooo miss Ann and Letetia (my fellow teachers) and I will sooo miss my class and I will sooo miss not continuing next term..all this after I spent my first week dreading the lesson and convinced I was absolutely rubbish afterwards! I tell you, after teaching a class of practising teenagers, student nurses seem like a doddle!!!
Which will be good as I will no doubt be doing a bit more of that in my new job...I'm looking forward to being back in the nursing world and really looking forward to be able to focus upon the clinical aspect of my role (the bit I really enjoy) and I am really looing forward to doing more 'hands-on' as us old hands say!
We are trying to find a part-time job for T so he can have more time at home and help keep our collective work-life balance..he is even keen on doing night duty (something he's always avoided before!!).
It will be good for him and good for the boys who see far too little of him..J has been seeing a doctor to help him cope with his experiences and feelings over the past year and she recommended he and T spend more time together..she also said how well J had done with all his sessions and the techniques he has been taught..apparently this is the age when all the synapses etc in our brain start to grow and learn, so coping mechanisms etc that are established now are the ones which remain with us throughout our lives..this is also the most difficult age for children to move, for that same reasson..ahhh, hindsight..what a wonderful thing? So we are all working to help J to practise and grow coping strategies that are of a clalmer and more positive nature and I must say he is definitely happier, calmer and more tolerant. Interestingly, the lady who has helped us said that the fact we are moving back to the Uk has just about held Jolyon together and without it he could have really struggled to recover from his recent experiences. So reassurring news, both from one doctor and from one practising teenager, that we have made the correct decision in returning to the UK. And J is even seeing our move to Yorkshire in a more positive light...he enjoyed seeing his friends in Mossley but acknowledged that people change, as he has and so can now see that a new start near Grandmum and Pops is not such a bad thing afterall ;-).
So another positive entry with not too much focus on the people we are sooo going to miss when we leave..as J and I walked to Kristjan-Geirs this afternoon we both agreed that we now know more people, feel more like real family and actually have friends here in our adopted homeland...positive experiences all round then and many more peole to love when we return as often as we can in the future (just for holidays mind!).
Going to chill with my gorgeous (did I just say that??!) husband now...
Love and peace to you all...did you all remember Remembrance day? I was sooo proud that my class respected the 2 minute silence, even after only learning about it an hour before..how cool is that?
Stay in touch dear friends and family..Best Wishes from Joanna and 3 boys xxxxxx :-)