Kicking !!!! and loving life in 2013 :)

shrimpy_80

Aw Zig, it must be tough coming home in itself, never mind being away from your OH after all that time together. April is really close, although I appreciate that it may not feel that way at the moment. I totally second what Poddle said, I think 14 is the age we must 'stick' at in our families minds!

I'm repeating what I said on Dinah's thread now, but a Leeds meet is a possibility for me. Definitely on the train though!

The North/South thing made my laugh, I live in the Midlands and everyone up north calls me a southerner while all my friends in London think I'm northern. I'm a midlander, the clue is in the name 'Midlands' people!

Tete_en_l'Air

Hi Zig - you sound v happy in your first post Try not to let this inbetweeny time get you down too much - focus on the longer term and remember this is a transition. It's never gonna be easy to come from exotic sunny adventuring to a freezing UK in your Granny's spare bedroom! Hope to get to meet you! x

zigmeister

poddle911 wrote: »

I thought your emotional 4am post was really lovely - obviously not that you're struggling without your OH, but it made me feel all fuzzy inside when you talked about how he makes you feel - proper lovely! You absolutely deserve to be happy Not long til April - keep your chin up!

That got me all teary Thank you x Glad you agree about Meredith too haha! She definitely looks older than everyone else!

Thanks once again for your reassurances girls! I had a rough few days because I OH had planned to come down on Saturday for a family meal and then his boss changed his mind and said he had to work Monday but could have the rest of the week off. OH still planned to come down for Saturday night but then he couldn't cuz of the snow. So I was disappointed but thought at least he'll be here Monday night (in time for my birthday on Tues) but then on Monday his boss said he had to work Tues and Wed too. I was gutted! Felt like such a child getting so upset but my family are rubbish at making an effort on my birthday so I just wanted to see OH really. He has been lovely today though, and sent me an email surprising me with comedy tickets for a comedian we loved in Melbourne. As expected my family have been rubbish but ah well, at least I knew what was coming! I can't wait to see him on Friday though. 3 days and counting!

zigmeister

Part of the reason the last few weeks have been so stressful is because I have so much stuff to sort out. I bought a lot of house stuff while I was with my ex, along with resources for school teaching work and feeding my stationery obsession. Not to mention my 80+ cookery books! All of this got put into storage when I left and I now have been sorting it out. It has been costing me £36 a month so I owe my family money for that, and I need to take over the payment myself. I decided to try and spread the stuff across my family so I could stop paying it as I can't afford it. But no-one wants to help me so it has been difficult. I'm trying to get rid of what I can, and I plan to sell a lot of it once I'm more settled.

I would love to keep the storage, just to save hassle, and £36 a month is so cheap. But I keep thinking that I already owe so much money, and £36 a month is £432 at the end of a year which would pay off a debt of mine. So even though I've been debating it for weeks, I think I'm gonna have to put up with the family stress for the sake of paying off my debts. I hope it all works out ok!

Kepp

Hey Zig, so know where you're coming from!

A little in reverse as we are now in the process of getting rid of everything ready to go travelling in January and the amount of stuff is overwhelming at points!

I also hate eBay with a passion so maybe we can encourage each other along a bit

Glad that OH sent you a nice surprise for your birthday

alioops78

Hi Zig

Hope you don't mind me joining in, I'm another northerner from Bolton (I know not north enough for the rest of you :rotfl:).

I did the opposite to you. I came over from Oz 6 1/2 years ago as I'd broken up with my ex a year or so earlier and had to get out of the rut I was in and actually do something for myself. I met my now husband about 6 months into living here and even though I told him there was only another 6 months left of me being here he won me over. We got married in 2011 and are hoping to try for a mini me this year. Crazily enough my Mum used to say that she wished I could find a nice english man to settle down with, what she didn't want was for me to meet him and stay in the UK for him luckily my family love him.

I completely understand the difference a great OH makes and know why you'd be missing yours but it's not long to go now and you've got Friday to look forward too.

Another one that if you would like a chat I'm available.

Looking forward to your journey.

Alioops xxx

Birdie85

Only one more day until you see your OH! Hope you have a lovely time with him!

It's a shame your family didn't really come through for your birthday, but at least you got a great surprise from your OH!

Hope you get the storage issue sorted, it must be a difficult one to weigh up. Do you know anyone (friend of a friend even?) with some garage space who'll take £20 a month to store your stuff? People tend to be more willing to help when they're getting something out of it!

Maybe it's time to say goodbye to the cookbooks, hard though it is! Most recipes will be available online if you ever need one so there's always that to fall back on. Even if you flog them for £2 each at a car boot that'll be £160 towards your debt!

Kepp

Check out Amazon trade-in for cookbooks too - mine weren't worth selling but I got £4 odd for each one on trade-in

It's a voucher rather than cash but still better than the clutter. Spent mine on a walking jacket - much more useful!

Tete_en_l'Air

Augh Zig, to be honest I think I'd be tempted to keep up the storage to save on hassle - and I know I certainly wouldn't want someone else's clutter in my house, my own is bad enough! Birdie's suggestion is brilliant though, would be great to get a garage for cheaper. Hope you have a lovely weekend!

zigmeister

Woah, I've been rubbish at keeping up with this. I've had an emotionally difficult month. Nothing drastic, don't get me wrong, and I feel bad for feeling rubbish. It feels like proper first world problems. But nevertheless, it's how I felt. I've been struggling with how hard it's been to find work, as well as being so pleased for OH that his job is going well. OH was a week away from being able to drive again since his last fit and then he had another one that he's taken way longer to recover from. That's hit us both hard. I thought that coming home would be different. I thought that I'd feel settled again after carrying my life around in a bag, but still I find myself carrying stuff I need between mine and OH's place constantly. It's frustrating not having all my stuff in one place. I thought my Dad would cut me some slack but he hasn't, at all. Having no money and having to justify everything to the job centre also sucks.

ANYWAY. It could be worse. I have a man who doesn't get frustrated when I moan or cry and there's a lot to be said for that.

Plus, I have a job! It's a temporary admin support job in a busy telecommunications company but it's a job nonetheless! First day was today and it was very intense but I already can't wait to get a proper pay packet again!

I thought the cookery book ideas were great and I'm definitely gonna have a cull once I see what I properly have!

How's it going getting rid of everything Beccie? Hopefully it's going well, it's a sucky job!