'Twas the night before Christmas Eve

Well, this is pretty much it for my time in London now. I walked over the Hungerford footbridge for the last time yesterday, with views of the City and St Paul's on one side and the Houses Of Westminster on the other, letting the faint scent of nostalgia wash over me. I'll see it all again in the future - I seem inevitably bound to return to places I've visited before - but it's a subtly different experience as a visitor than as a resident.

I've few more things to pack, and a spot of cleaning to do before I go, but I'm expecting an early release from work tomorrow, so I plan to finish things off in the afternoon. Then it's just a short hop to Heathrow (made longer by an impending tube strike *sigh*) and then home.

I've been here over seven years. It sounds like a horrendously long time put like that. I didn't plan on staying, but then I didn't really plan anything much - I just let things happen and see where fate let me. It probably led me to stay a couple of years too long, but I shan't complain too much. It's largely work that's kept me here this long - not a bad reason, since I'm pleased with what I've learned, accomplished and proved to myself in that time, although I wish I had better. I never quite managed to escape the feeling that my time here was temporary at best, perhaps explaining why I only carved out a small niche for myself. Or perhaps that's simply an excuse.

Still, it doesn't matter much now. I've got other things to worry about and look forward to. I'm not sure whether the slightly disconcerting butterflies in my stomach are a combination of jetlag and lack of sleep, or simply sheer excitement. Certainly it feels a lot like those Christmas Eve's of old, where the nights stretched further into eternity the close Christmas day came. Tomorrow has been a long time coming for me.

I hope it's worth the wait.