I'm back!

I have been trying to log in to write a post, but Blogger kept asking me to text me a verification to my phone. I couldn't be bothered since it's not on the right number.... It's all worked out now though :) My last post was when we got Saoirse and we have now had her for over a month. Her character has certainy developed! For example she spies out the windows upstairs to watch people walking by and she likes having her face rubbed after a walk after we have used the halti (if you're not familiar with the halti it's a head collar which puts a little bit of pressure on the nose if she pulls). If you don't rub her face for her she will occasionally rub it on the rug or dive face first into the leather sofa :) We were lucky though and she's not shown any signs of anxiety or stress about coming into a new home with new people. There has been no chewing or peeing in the house. I have however noticed that she now has a habit of sneaking upstairs to sleep in our bed when we're not home and to be honest - I can forgive her for that ^^, Probably because it smells like us and she's not allowed on it when Rob's home. Sometimes she cuddles up to me when we're alone though - if I let her.

Saoirse (yeah, try pronuncing that)

Today is a very big day because today our little family grew to three :) We have adopted a little girl called Saoirse from Dogs Trust Kenilworth. She is a three to four year old German Shepherd who was born in Ireland. We know very little of her early life as she was picked up as a stray and her family couldn't be found. She was taken to the UK to have a better chance of finding a new homebut she must have had a home at some point though as she is very well behaved and was both micro-chipped (twice!) and spayed (again - twice! They opened her up to spay her and realised it had already been done in Ireland.). As she had stitches in and wasn't fully vaccinated she wasn't allowed out of the kennel though, so she was so bouncy when we went to see her! The picture is from Sunday the 25th when we visited her for the second time. As she had to "do her business" in the kennel we came out of there smelling ever so faintly of dog pee lol. She knows sit and is very enthusiastic about giving her paw (she gives you both paws and tries to lift herself up a little bit to reach the treat), but she is very gentle when you feed her something.

Cars - so reliable

This morning I had a boyfriend full of anticipation. He was off to his first day at the new office and was really looking forward to it so he left early. I woke pretty early too and was out of bed at 6.20. Since me and Rob ow work in different directions we can't go to work together so I saw him off on his merry way and awaited my own departure for work. Everything was juuuust fine and peachy until I had taken the car out of the yard and closed the gate behind me. I sat down and got ready to go to work - but  something felt very different. In the time it had taken me to drive the car out, turn it off to lock the gate and then get back in the clutch had gone. It was still drivable but only just.

I had no idea what had happened though since the clutch has never given in on any of my previous cars; however I had a creeping suspicion. Surprisingly I averted panic though... Fantastic selfcontrol there! In the end I got to work although quite slowly and a lot less smoothly than usual. One of my colleagues' brother is a mechanic so we have asked him to come out and have a look at the car tomorrow - see if he can get it sorted for me. Life saver!

Can't help but feeling, though, that it would be nice to have a month without any kind misfortune. I'm really tired of going up hill all the while. I've been trying to find it somewhere in my budget to go see my family and even with a full time job I can't find money for a measly flight ticket home... I haven't seen them since Christmas and with the clutch now gone on my car and probably about £200 or more to repair it I don't think I'll be able to afford going home the coming couple of months either... Christmas? We'll have to see :/ I just don't know what to do...

Just one month where things go my way, please?

Saga xx

Still alive!

I have been told I need to get back to my blog and to be honest I have been thinking about it myself for quite some time. I've done loads of stuff since I last wrote. Have been to Manchester twice and been to a couple of animal related events around Burton.

For the first time I have experienced the English summer as well and it has been a good one. It has been mercilessly hot for a couple of weeks but I will not be one to complain (too much) about sunshine. I managed to barbecue my shoulders though which was a bit silly...

I really, really will update the blog soon, I promise! Yesterday we toiled away in the garden, putting up our new fence panels and making a new border for the lawn (it was lookig a bit scruffy. It's still a bit scruffy but with a defined edge!). In the evening we went to Race Night at The Traford in Hednesford. Basically what it is is old horse races with 8 horses which you can bet on - you don't get any info on the horses or riders or the course - it's like lottery. You buy a couple of tickets (£1 or whatever you want to bet) and pray your horse is the first to cross that finish line (or finishes at all O.o). Rounded the night off with a curry and headed back home.

Today we went shopping together with Matt in Walsall. Both Matt and Rob wanted some new shirts so we had a nose round the shops. Apparently Pride was on as well but we didn't see much of it sadly.

At the moment I am completely knackered... Rob's just spoke to the landlord's wife Liz about getting quotes for having some windows replaced (single glass is seriously cold in the winter..!). They were really surprised we changed the broken fence panels on our own accord and she said they'd never had tenants like that before. Good to know the landlord is happy with us!

Anyway, I might just try and get some sleep - tried a nap earlier but no luck. I have a feeling you'll be hearing from me again soon.

Take care and go hug someone you like - they deserve it.
Huggles
Saga

Pension

Just a quick little post before I more than likely fall asleep in this comfy bath and drown :) Yesterday we had a visitor in the office. The company is going through a merger at the moment to become part of what will be known as Jelf Insurance Partnership, so yesterday we had our first visitor from Jelf. It was a really nice guy called Jeff (Jeff from Jelf xD) who stopped by to talk about pensions and the different schemes Jelf offer.

Missing

I think the look on his face says a lot about
how I feel at the moment!

Over the last week or so I have had moments or hours or sometimes a full day of missing Sweden. Of course I miss it for the sake of my family and friends, but lately I have begun to realise that I also miss the country all in it's own right. I love it here in England but I will never be truly English. I am when it comes down to it an immigrant. I may not be very far from my home country and I may be here willingly, even so I feel different. My English is quite good (not as good as I would like it to be though) but it's things like my name that give away that I'm not "one of them" and I never really will be, people will keep asking where I come from. And that is fine, I don't mind, but it reminds me that this is not my identity.

Elvaston Castle Great Dane walk

Today was a day I've been waiting for a couple of weeks now, since there was a post on the Great Dane facebook page about an Elvaston dane walk. Elvaston Castle is exactly what it sounds like - a castle, with a huge garden and grounds open to the public (for now at least. The council is contemplating renting it out to make it a hotel, making the major part of the gardens private - that sucks considering how many people were there today enoying a walk in the sunshine or a picnic). It's only in Derby, so about 20mins drive for us, which isn't bad. We metup with the group at 12-ish and went

My wheelz

I've got a car! Yay! We ended up not going with the Toyota Aygo in the end as Rob felt that a slightly bigger car might be more practical and safer for me, should I ever be in an accident. It's still a "supermini" class type car - a Citroën C3 from -03. We went and had a look at it yesterday and it's been well taken care of and was clean and tidy and ran well so we both felt happy wth it. As a stroke of luck we found comprehensive insurance for the right money as well, so I'm really, really happy now.

Weekeeeend!

We've got a long weekend here this week as Monday is a bank holiday ("red day", no reason, they just put one now because they felt like it - I think...). Yesterday me and Rob went to his boss' house (the Big Boss) as they were having a proble with the broadband in their home offices. They live out in the countryside and the house was amazing. I've seen hotels that are less posh! It's got to be an old victorian mansion or something like that, with stables in the yard. When we drove through the gates I could just about hear angels sing... They own my dream life! Rob asked if I liked the house and I said "You know when I say I'd like to have a detached house in the country? This is what I meant.". I wouldn't quite need as big a house, but the style of it was fantastic. They also had two gorgeous dogs :) A Rhodesian Ridgeback who was leaning on me for some fuss. Loved him!

I can't sleep...

I can't sleep. Well at least not yet... I will give it a try again in a few minutes, I just needed something to distract me for a minute or two. I am tired, but not the sleepy kind of tired tonight.

Tomorrow will be quite exciting in a way. First it's work and business as usual, but at 18 there is a driving instructor coming to pick me up at the house.

I am going to drive a vehicle on the left hand side of the road for the first time in my life.

I am only ever so slightly nervous, but not half as nervous as the people of Burton would be if they knew. The instructor sounded nice though. I explained my situation to her and she understood where I was coming from. I'm guessing it's not every day she gets calls from someone who's had their lisence for closer to a decade... To be honest, I don't think there will be too big a problem as soon as I get the gear shifts down (that will be the tricky bit, plus Rob keeps trying to convince me the clutch, break and gas are in a different order in cars here, which isn't helping...). This is just to make sure I feel confident driving on my own when we do get me a car.

I really should try and get some sleep though... Big day tomorrow ;)

Nighty night all :3
Huggles
(By now pretty sleepy) Saga

Playing catch-up and Piglet

I can't even remember when I wrote here last time :P Think that was after the Shire Horse Society Spring Show. So many times I've thought "I really need to get my blog updated again", mostly because it's awesome  being able to look back at posts a year later and remember things and feelings. It's a spare memory outside your head, which is fantastic :)

House and Horses :D

So, I haven't written on my blog for a while and the simple reason is we were busy trying to sort things out with the house we're moving to. After we lost the flat in Hednesford we decided we better not say anything before we were sure. And when Rob finally had the keys in his hand we felt pretty sure ;)

We first saw the house online and as it said it had an extra room in the loft Rob was really keen to go see it. So after calling and calling I finally got a hold of the agent and we set up a meeting for the saturday. About an hour before we were supposed to meet the agent we went past to have a look around and Rob said he didn't like the look of the parking as there are double yellow lines all around the corner the house is on. I asked him if we should call and cancel and he said "nah, what are we going to do for another hour 'til the next viewing?" So we went back to the house when we were meant to meet the agent, parked up a bit further down the road and waited outside the door. After hanging around outside for about 5 mins the door is opened and a man in his fifties-ish opens the door and asks if he can help us.

Things may be looking up

Wednesday night I went out for a curry with my colleagues in the evening. It's the first time since I moved across (more than 5 months ago, isn't that insane? on March 5th I have been here for half a year!) that I've gone out without Rob. Don't get me wrong, I love going out with Rob, but it's not healthy not having separate lives from each other as well. We had a really good time down at the Bilash restaurant. I have to say they really are good. They try and go that extra mile for good customers and I appreciate that. One of my colleagues has been going there with her husband for over 20 years so the manager knew their names and orders by heart already ;) They even put some extra energy into decorating our plates for the starter (a mixed kebab with onion bhajis, it was gorgeous!) as you can see from the picture :) It makes for a good night out. I went safe for the main course though - chicken tikka masala with a cheese and garlic naan. Mel laughed at me because they know how much I love tikka masala. First or second week I worked at TIP I had tikka masala in some form or other in my lunch box 3 days in a row :P It's red, it's coconut-milky and creamy and wonderful! And it's also fake-indian, but does it really matter? :D Good food is good food!

Today we've spent pretty much all day in Burton-upon-Trent looking at flats/houses. It's been a long day and we've had such mixed results. Two of the places, a flat by the train station and a house further away from the town centre, were positive surprises. But the other four we looked at were let downs to be honest... One of them, sort of at the top of our price range as well, was quite moldy :/ Another one had stairs so steep I could have fallen to my death (and nearly did). We have something to think about, lets put it that way :)

I think all the flat hunting today has given me a fever though :( I'm not feeling fantastic at the moment. Rob's contemplating going out for a beer with his friends and I'm contemplating a pain killer and going to bed early!

Anyway, that's it for tonight. Hopefully I'll be able to update you soon with good news on the flat.
Huggles!
Saga xx

Wedding!

On Monday afternoon I got to leave a bit early frm work to start our drive down to Kent in the south of UK to go to Pete and Michelle's renewal of their wedding vows. It took us about 3.5 hours to drive (40mins of which was heated discussion on the Sun's page 3... I think the conclusion was that we agree to disagree :P)

It was so nice to finally get to see everyone again. Many of them we haven't seen in about a year, some we hadn't seen since the trip to Finland back in.... 2010, can it be that long ago? We all had dinner together the night before the wedding and it was a right laugh. Got to meet some new people as well, like Thomas' partner Clare. She was wonderful!

Pet planning xD

We haven't even got the new flat yet and we have already started thinking about future pets. This morning I had a look at what it would cost to have a dog in "day care" on our working days, but that would be around £160 per month, so to be honest it might be better to drive home and take the dog out on our lunch break. But that's something to be considered in the future when we plan on getting a dog.

Closer at hand might be a couple of snakes though. Friends of ours are selling their two ball pythons (Royal pythons) so Rob is very excited. He's had snakes before and has been talking about getting new ones ever since I've known him. So as soon as we are done with the move we might be getting a pair of snakes ;) I don't mind snakes, they're really pretty animals, and I know they would make Rob very happy, so it would be nice to give it a try :)

Move comes first though, definitely. So we need to get that sorted :P
Now to find something good to watch together and cuddle on the sofa!
Huggles!
Saga xx

Just a short one

Just thought I'd do a short update. Sort of hit a new level of responsibility at work today as I have been delegated a groupage claim after a fire on a truck. It basically means I will handle all the claims relating to that incident and I'm looking forward to it as it feels like they are confident I can do a good job. It makes me happy :) I was talking to my boss yesterday as well and she told me about what I hopefully will be "in charge of" in a few months time and I think it'll be really good. It'll be a lot of work, I'm sure, but a challenge is good for you. I feel like it'll be sort of a promotion because it's like another step on the company ladder and I've always wanted a shot at a proper career.

I also wanted to say something about my last entry. In one of the last paragraphs I wrote about feeling like people were talking about me behind my back. This was not aimed at anyone in particular but was meant about people in general. I am a slightly neurotic and paranoid person and thoughts like that tend to stick in my mind and slowly eat away at my sanity. Anyway, if you felt like I was talking about you, I apologize.

On Sunday I was so tired. I said I was so tired I could just sit down and cry and to be honest I did. I was not in a good place... It's that feeling that your heart and head are just so worn out that they might just give in and stop. I'm feeling better now though, don't worry.

Now, time to stretch out of the sofa and possibly fall asleep early.
Huggles and nighty night
Saga xx

Can't sleep :(

It's too early to be awake on a Sunday but I really can't sleep. I woke up around 6:45 and that was it, I was awake. No going back. I wish I could though, because oddly enough I'm really tired, but I have all these thoughts going around in my mind and I just can't turn it off.

I have really mixed feelings about yesterday. The day started out really well, I made breakfast for me and Rob and we went off to Hednesford/Cannock to look at flats. The first one was very nice. It was big and light and exactly what we need from a flat. There was a good size bedroom for us and an almost as big second bedroom to use as an office/guest bedroom, which I really really want. It ticked all the boxes.

Suspicious gatherings

I'm sitting here drinking a cup of Lemsip to try and get rid of the cold I woke up to this morning. My throat was a bit sore, so it's nice to have something soothing. Lemsip is like a liquid, lemony cough drop with some pain relief medicine stirred in. It's good :) For the moment it's doing the trick, so I'm happy, but I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to really know if it works.

Earlier tonight I took a walk down to the One Stop to pick up some stuff and on the way there I came across a gathering of people. They were all dressed in military green clothing, both men and women, standing in straight rows. It looked a bit suspicious, but I guess if you were acyually doing something genuinely suspicious you wouldn't choose a parking lot flooded with light to do it in...  I'm guessing they are a local volountary military corp or something like that.


I managed to sneak a really bad picture (feeling like a military spy!). Not expecting any calls from MI5 or MI6 any time soon....

Our laundry won't hang itself though... So I need to go do that.

You should all sleep well and dream sweet dreams!
Huggles xx
Saga

Take the bad with the good

Rob left this morning to drive to Scotland to work for a few days. On the down side I always miss him when he's gone because this is a little bit less of a home when he is not here. On the upside though (you have to find an upside) it gives us a couple of days apart which might be good once in a while, considering we live together and now we work in the same building as well. We spend a lot of time together as it is, so I think it's healthy for us to get to miss one another a little bit.

While Rob is in Scotland his colleague Angie is taking me to and from work and I really appreciate that. Gives us a chance to get to know each other, which is nice. She's a superstar Angie is, picking me up while Rob is out of town. We have started looking around for a car for me as I may have to travel in my job in the future, but we haven't found anything yet. So for now I am non-mobile!

Something I am really looking forward to as well is viewing a couple of flats this saturday! I made some calls yesterday and we're booked in to see two of the three flats we selected and then it's looking like there will be a beer and a curry with Dave in the evening :) So it's shaping up to be a pretty good weekend this week as well. I just hope the flats are what we are looking for (one has a really nice kitchen by the looks of it, so I really fancy that one). Fingers crossed :) If we like any of them we'll hopefully soon have a guest bedroom to offer my family and friends who are itching to visit :)

I think my new fringe went down well, by the way! My boss said "it makes the baby look even younger" (they call me the baby once in a while because I'm the newest employee and I'm also youngest in the office). By now I'm used to it. Only down side is that it needs some special attention in the morning with hair dryer, spray and curling iron to tame it (and that still doesn't always do the trick xD).

Anyway, I've just put some burgers in the grill, so need to go get my dinner sorted :) I am HUNGRY.
Huggles all <3
Saga

Great weekend

It's sunday night and I am knackered! Just had a bit of a nap for an hour which was nice :) We've had time to do a bit of everything (except shopping for groceries! The one thing we needed...) so I'm tired in a good way.

On saturday morning we went down town and had a nose around the stores and on our way home Rob asked me where I got my hair cut last time. We were just walking past the salon so we went in and made an appointment for the same afternoon. When I got there I had already decided to cut a fringe as I have thought about that for a while. I'm not very adventurous with my hair but a liiiittle bit of change might be healthy ;) So that's my new fringe! ---->

Work update :)

Now I've done my first two days at work and I'm really happy. Before I started I was really nervous because I have never worked in Claims before, I've done a bit of customer service but not a lot of administrative stuff. I feel like I'm catching up fine though. I entred and quantified some new claims today and of course it wasn't perfect, but Sue (colleague) told me I had done really well for a second day at work, so that made me really happy :)

Getting nervous xD

Tomorrow is my first day at work :D I am so very excited at the moment and also very nervous. I have already been informally introduced to the others who work in the office, so they sort of know who I am but I am looking forward to properly getting to know them :) I got the contract on Friday in a "Private & Confidential" envelope, so I have been reading that and signing and filling in forms. Need to finish that tonight so I can hand it over tomorrow morning. I'm really happy about having somewhere to go during the days now, as, just the other week (before I got the job offer) I had the saddest thought, though it was still kind of funny in a way. I thought if I'd get killed and the police suspected foul play they'd go to Rob and ask me if there was anyone around here with a reason to dislike me and they'd get the answer "No, she didn't know anyone". It just made me laugh that I don't even know enough people to have enemies around here ;) And I don't mean that in a disturbing way, it's just the kind of thought my mind likes to blindside me with when I'm out walking alone. Because that will really help... (!)

It's snowiiiiiing!! :D

It just started snowing outside :3 Not a lot, yet, but we're forcast to get about 30cm tonight. Hope poor Rob makes it unscathed to work if that forcast is correct (I think he got it from an iPhone though, so I have my doubts ;) ). I will take a picture of it tomorrow and show you what winter in England looks like. I should take a before picture as well, but seriously I can't be arsed... I have dinner to cook! A kitchen to clean!

On Monday I had a call from Alison at The Insurance Partnership to offer me the position of Claims Technician that I applied for just before Christmas. I was over the moon! I even did my happy dance ;) There is no video, as I was home alone, but check YouTube for "Snoopy happy dance" and you will get the general idea ;D The big day is on Monday, so I'm getting kind of nervous :) It's getting closer! But I am looking forward to it though. Nice chance to meet some new people and get to do something productive. It'll mean a whole new quality of life for me and Rob as well, both physically and mentally. I have to admit I have been looking at dishwashers already, lol. Can' wait to get one of those!

Speaking of which.... I need to go do the dishes and get started on dinner.
Huggles <3
Saga

Snow and settees

We had a really nice day today. Took a trip to DFS sofas in Cannock just for the sake of being nosy. They had a few sofas I really liked :) I think we realised we have certain differences when it comes to taste in furniture but we found two or three we both liked. Now all we need is a second income and a good sitting room to put a sofa in ^^, After DFS we swung by KFC for lunch and then we headed to a cinema in Cannock to see The Hobbit.

I have to say this was the most interesting visit to the cinema I can remember. It looked quite small from outside, but the actuall screen room was huge! It felt a little bit like walking into one of those tents they have in Harry Potter which are bigger on the inside than on the outside. The hallway up to the screen room was a long slope and when we walked in I could see the ceiling was vaulted and about 5-6 meters high. It was proper old style cinema. Rob told me it looked exactly the same as when he last visited it ca 1986! Before the film started we got to see them adjusting the projector and sound. It was a bit unusual and odd, but in a nice way! I did enjoy it. Just after commercials it said "Today's presentation:" or something like that, just before the film burned off and something started beeping in the projector room behind us. They put the lights back on while they were working to fix it and 15 minutes later they got it back up and running :)
There were no problems during the film itself and we got a 10 minute intermission (how funny is that!). What really got to me though was that we only paid £5 per person!

On our way back to the car I saw my first flakes of English snow, albeit small :) Tomorrow there may be snow on the ground when I wake up. I have mixed feelings about it though as I'd love to see some snow here but at the same time Rob will be out driving on it in tyres that are not quite ideal on snow and ice. He's a good driver though, that makes me feel a lot better :)

All in all it's been a good day. I'm looking forward to a new week :)
Hope all of you do as well.
Now I'm going to watch "Most Evil" on Quest.
Huggles and Nighty night <3
Saga

Lazy day

Todays mission is to go hand in papers at the bank so I can open an account. I will need one sooner or later, especially as I have paid about £30-40 in fees to my Swedish bank while I've been taking out money last year. I can't do that this year as well and should I get a job I need somewhere to deposit a salary. So it really, really needs to be done. The problem is I'm in a really lazy mood at the moment. I've done two machines of laundry and I'm going to hang them in a few minutes and after that I miiiiiight just feel like going down to the bank. It needs to be done.

Rob said something yesterday aboutpossibly getting some snow next weekend. I highly doubt it and to be honest I got my fill of snow while I was in Sweden. We got a nice white Christmas, so I'm happy now :) I'm looking forward to spring now and maybe it'll arrive a bit earlier here than in Sweden? I hope so. The milder weather here is nice, so fingers crossed we get a really nice spring/summer this year. 

Yesterday I looked at trips abroad. Not because we're actually going anywhere but because I'm a bit starved of sun. Think I had better take one of those vitamin D tablets I got from Dad. See if they cheer me up!

Anyway... I really need to try and get down the bank..
Here goes!
Huggles
Saga

Back in the UK

After ten days in Sweden me and Rob have been back in the UK for about a week. In a way it's sad, as we had to leave everyone and at the same time it's nice to be back. My aunt asked me before we left if I was looking forward to going back and I said I was. It's just nice to get back to some sort of routine and normality. While we were there I had this strange feeling though. As I lived with Nan before I moved and we stayed with her this holiday it felt weird to be back because it felt like maybe England never happened? That feeling will go away when I get a job though so I have something to fill my days with and new people to meet. I still don't know anyone here and to be honest I'm stumped for ideas on how to meet people. Once I meet people I am fine and I can be very social, it's just the meeting in itself that's the problem.

Before we went to Sweden I gave Rob his first christmas gift :) It was too big to go in the bags with us to Sweden, so he got it in advance. It was a pop corn maker :D I know he loves pop corns, so I thought we might as well be able to make them at home instead of buying bags. I have a feeling he loved it ^^ We tried it out that same evening and it started making popcorn, and then it made some more....

And then it made some more...