its February again - has it really been a year since we had to take the decision to move back to the UK? Its been an adventure - some amazing ups and some frustrating downs. i've learnt a lot about my limitations and my strengths and we've soldiered through. A good omen for this was the fact my favourite mug - the one Ian got me when i moved to the UK to be with him originally developed a massive crack so we've retired it to save it - Kinda how i feel about so many things right now.
Its been great to be back close to Ian's folks for the girls to hang out and enjoy and grow that wonderful relationship of grandparents. It's been good to be here for the little things that get missed in a weekly skype call - like the girls seeing birds or flowers and wanting to tell their grandparents about them right away.
It's been awesome for Ian to be back doing what he does best - making art for games. He's been with Climax nearly a year now and so far it all seems rosey which is what we need - to be settled for a little bit - still a tad stressful as games contracts run for a year here like the film industry but so far so good. Ian works right next to the Spinnaker tower here in Portsmouth so it is cool for the girls to see the tower everytime we leave the house.
btw - its funny to be able to say that we live in a "Pineapple House by the sea" sung to the spongebob theme :) It is a cool engraving of a pineapple i think - everyone else just thinks I am odd. It is a 2 up/2 daown with a kitchen/bathroom terraced house and it works for us - it was hard in the beginning as it is so much smaller than our house in canada but costs so much more. the downstairs floor oplan would fit inside the crop room at treasured memories - and thats includes the kitchen/bathroom and two living rooms.
It's been good to be settled and not stressed about immigration for a while. Its been a massive thing on our heads this last two years - even when you leave a country there is still so much to deal with - just got another lettler asking why Lily is not registered for state school next year. We miss Edmonton so much - we miss our friends, the weather, the people, the shops, the buses, everything... but we have had to come to the horrible conclusion in the last few weeks that unless we win big on the lottery we will not be going back for many many years as even to get another visa, there isnt the work in edmonton for Ian and we really dont want to go anywhere else in Canada - which sucks on so many levels. I have had a hard time adjusting to that thought and sending off our offical decision this week reduced me to tears. But it is done now and all we have to do is keep paying for our storage until we can save up enough to get it all shipped back to us.
perfect example is that we miss the Southgate Mall Santa becuase this is what we had instead
The Girls have been enjoying the bikes rides and the parks. They have bought though said they miss the snow and that they dont like the wet winds. They are enjoying school and making friends. Its beena slow process to get Fay back to enjoying learning for her own benefit again but its been good. Fay is in Brownies and TaKwonDo and enjoying both immensely. Lily is being herself and making friends and causing havoc. Both though are having ear issues again and we're waiting on a specialist appointment so thats not been great.
on the down side, this year nearly broke us - I thought going through the misscarriages and the infertility was hell but thats nothing compared to what this last year (and i suppose some of the year before) has brought to us. The depression, the stress, the illnesses, the struggle, the finacianial madness, the fight with the schools, the fight with the uk and canada immigration systems, the everyday niggles that just sometimes seemed unsurmountable. It bent our marraige to its breaking point but it didn't break and we're bouncing back with renewed commitment and enthusasim. I would like to think it is becuase we are best friends first and lovers second and becuase we trusted in each other to do the right thing and get through the obstacles. Either way 2012 is a fresh start for us and onwards we go on our 14th year together. Hopefully this year will be easier on us.
(this is from the latest My Minds Eye Newsletter - get subscribed)
One of the things that has hurt is not realising how expensive the UK is with regards to taxes and costs. Canada spoilt us with their tax credit systems and low VAT and such little things as food - here we get 300ml of pasta sauce for the same price as the 500ml jar in Canada. It all costs the same but you just get more for your money in canada so it lasts longer. That said we have CHEESE - good awesome yummy cheese - small victories shall we say. and I now own a crock-pot thanks to Ian's folks - and i use it every day :) its been a learning curve but its been fun. and i've been baking bread again so its all good.
becuase of the whole money situation here, its been really important that i go back to work to cover things like our storage unit in Canada and paying back people who helped us in the last while - I've been looking for ages (since September) but the job market in the UK is really tough and I needed something that would work with the kids and childcare. I sent off cvs and went to interviews - i ranged between not haveing enough UK experience to being over experienced. It was beciming so frustrating. So I was lucky that right before Christmas, i got a temp job at Asda (wallmart in the usa/canada) working (thankfully) in the music and games section. I worked my ass off in the hope i'd get kept on afterwards and thankfully I have - i'm split between departments and end up on the cashier till sometimes and its been fun - i work with good people and have some great customers. Its minimum wage but I get enough hours for it to work out ok . It does mean though that I have no weekends anymore but its unloaded so much stress form us, that we can literally sleep at night.
I've tried to keep up with my scrapbooking and creating and have 101 half finished projects on the go as usual but on the whole I am slowly working back to being happy with every day and therefore beign able to create without stressing about it. The Sketches 2 Scrapbook App has been a huge deal for me with the new Apple rules and the fact that i'm in the UK now brought a huge new legal wrangle about ciopyright and image usage and such like but we're hoping that will resolve itself asap so we can get more releases out for it. I am blessed that the people I work with (My Minds Eye, Bombshell stamps, Treasured Memories, Letraset) have been so understanding about how this year has brought me so low so I am determined that 2012 will allow me to repay them tenfold.
(from the Bombshell stamps blog about love tokens)
We have been blessed with awesome friends and amazing strangers, we've made new friends and learnt so much this past year. We miss so many people nad are trying to slowly reconnect with the world and not be so afraid of it. Its been an adventure this past year but we're moving forward and thats what counts.
Thanks to everyone for being part of the journey.
Anam
