OK guys, so I've neglected this blog for over a month now! Uh-oh, sorry about that!
I had a cracking December. Christmas at Disney is amazing! All of the parks looked stunning, and I am incredibly lucky to have been able to visit each one of them over Christmas!
However, there was something a little different about this Christmas, especially with being so far away from home, and not having my family around me at the most amazing time of year.
I had been feeling pretty homesick for the majority of my first four months in America. And, I'm not going to lie; but the option of packing everything up and heading back to Irish shores was intensely appealing.
I had this thought in the back of my mind though; that what if, I was able to save up the money to go home for Christmas and see my family. I was looking at return flights; $1000 at best.
I definitely did not have that kind of money sitting around, so I decided to try and work a little extra here and there, to be able to start saving up a bit of money.
Week after week passed, and although my pay checks were increasing, I was still not even close to having enough money for the flights. But then I remembered that I had left my credit card at home with mum and dad, in case I needed it for an emergency. Cha-Ching!!
So I told my four brothers that I was planning to come home for Christmas, but I didn't want them telling my mum and dad in case everything fell through. So mum and dad were none the wiser!
I Skyped my mum a few weeks before Christmas, and made up this really random, ridiculous excuse as to why I needed my credit card number text to me. I told her I had to pay for some University books and fees. Yeah right, mum. As if!
She believed me though, and send me my credit card details, and I booked a flight home to Ireland!! Woohoo! I was going home for Christmas! Once I had got together a little bit more money, I then booked my return back to Orlando. Phew!
I was however, going to tell my mum and dad that I was coming home - but then again, we all love surprises don't we?
I was due to fly on the 23rd December, which was a Monday, and because I booked the flights so late, I had to have a 12 hour layover in London. Not so fun!
There were so many little things I had to do to make sure my mum and dad didn't find out I was coming home; such as turning of the location of my phone so that every time I sent them a Facebook message, it would not say, 'Sent from London', because lets be honest - that would be awkward.
I packed my bags, including all of my Disney Christmas gifts for the whole family, and set off to the airport. The flight to London took about 7 hours. Then the dreaded layover; a whole 12 hours until my flight to Dublin. So I slept in the airport for a bit; and then went to drop my bag at the Aer Lingus desk when they informed me that I could get an earlier flight! Yay!
Of course this was fantastic news, however my brother Paddy had my nephew Tyler around at our house, and he had only been there 30 minutes when I text him to let him know that I got on an earlier flight. Operation 'Bring Tyler home to his Mums without being suspicious' had commenced. My own mum and dad still had NO IDEA what was happening, somehow!
And while all this panic was occurring at home, I had just dropped my bag and boarded my flight to Dublin and arrived on the evening of Christmas Eve.
As I got off the plane, I was fully aware of the fact I was back in Ireland, because it was FREEZING! Living in Florida for four months definitely meant that I was not used to the sub zero temperatures of home. How on earth have I coped with these temperatures for 20 years of my life?
My brother Paddy was waiting on me as I collected my luggage, as was my best friend Sean. I was so excited to see them! After nearly four months of being away, there was nothing better than seeing them again! Imagine how excited I was to see my mum and dad! Eeek!
We decided to stop on the way home from Dublin for some food; KFC was the general consensus, much to my delight!
We then hit the road again to make our way home; but of course, my mum and dad still didn't know I was coming home, and they hadn't a clue where Paddy had gone either. Operation 'tell as many lies as possible' had commenced.
As we drove in to Lurgan, I still hadn't decided where I was staying the night - so Sean offered to let me kip on his sofa. We arrived at his, and had a few Christmas Eve drinks while I wrapped my presents, and I finally decided to hit the hay at about 1-30am. Me and my brother Paddy had already arranged for me to get to my house on Christmas morning at around 8am.
After five hours sleep, I awoke to a text from Paddy - he told me to make my way to my house, so Sean drove me round. He dropped me off a few doors away of course, to make it less obvious.
I got out of the car with my bags of Disney presents, and excitedly made my way to my house. I ducked a little and went through our back gate -trying, but failing of course, to be as quiet as possible (Not very good when you have a squeaky, 15 year old garden gate).
Through my back garden I went, and I stood silent at my back door, waiting for Paddy to text me; and after a few minutes I seen a shadow through the window, and the back door opened. Paddy was really good at Operation 'tell as many lies as possible', after telling my mum and dad that he was going out the back for a cigarette, and while he was sneaking me in to the house, my brother Micky was manning the kitchen door so no one would walk in and see me!
I stayed in the kitchen while Paddy and Micky went back in to the living room, and instead of explaining what happened next - YOU CAN WATCH IT! :)
Merry Christmas folks, I hope everyone had as much fun as I had. There is nothing more important than family.
