Revisiting the ol' Blog

Goodness me!!!

It has been over 2 years since I last posted on the blog.  How time flies!

Recently, I have been thinking a lot, and I remembered that I used to get all of my feelings out on my blog (well, the majority of them, anyway).  Lately I have been feeling a bit lost in life, and I thought that I should write in a journal again, like I used to do when I was younger. 

Life isn't about pen and paper anymore though, so I decided it's time to start documenting life once again via the tinternet (that's what Northern English call the internet). 

So let's see....a recap of the last 2 years:

Ian and I are still married.  Still working.  Still moving around.  Since the last time I posted, we moved twice.  We had moved back to Winchester for a year, and then when Cornerways shut, I got a new job out in eastern Hampshire.  It was such a long drive every day from Winchester to the new job, so Ian and I decided to pack up house once again and moved to Portsmouth.

We really like it down here.  We like the neighbourhood.  And the flat that we live in is bigger than our old one, and for less money.  We don't, however, like the fact that we live further away from our friends.

Leaving Cornerways was sad.  Our last summer there was an amazing one.  We had celebrations for The Queen's Diamond Jubilee.  I was able to hold an Olympic torch.  I grew strong bonds with people I worked with, as well as residents too.  The one resident that really changed my life, Dolores, passed away last year.  Her funeral was beautiful.  Her coffin was a gorgeous white, with music staffs and notes dancing around it....just what Dolores would have wanted.  I met a lot of her old friends that she used to play with, and stories from the past with stories of when Dolores went into care were shared.  It was just really nice to reflect on the woman that touched all of our lives.

In April of last year I went back to Ohio for a week to visit the family.  It was an amazing week that went far too fast.  Jackie turned 10 this past April, and I can't believe by the time I see the girls again, Jackie will be well into middle school, and Courtney will be getting ready to graduate high school.  Time flies.

Lots of our dear friends have had or are expecting children.  Jamie and Alan now have the lovely Lincoln.  Jan and Abel now have Bram.  Mel gave birth to gorgeous Victoria about 3.5 months ago.  Meg is expecting a little baby girl too!  Babies, babies everywhere! :)

Jessie is now engaged to a wonderful man named Dan and they are getting married at the end of September next year!!!   Can't wait to go back to Ohio with Ian and share in their special day.

My new job I began on my birthday last year.  I won't go into too much detail and about my feelings about the job and the place where I work, but I am doing what I was doing before.  Jessie is just about to start her dream job, and everyone is so proud of her landing it! :)

Clarabella and I were able to see Lady Gaga last year, which was an amazing experience.  And just a couple of weeks ago, Kathryn, Sandie, and I went to Wembley Stadium and saw Robbie Williams and Olly Murs together.  Man, what an INCREDIBLE evening! 

Now....we're a day away from a surprise birthday party for my MIL. She turned 80 on the 5th July, so family and friends from all over the country are joining together to celebrate her life.  Her memory has deteriorated in the last few years, plus her brother is now living in a care home, so this may be the last time they get to see each other.  Every big event we go into it with "this may be the last chance" since Dementia is such an unpredictable illness.

Ian and I are also off to Spain at the end of September this year.  We were supposed to go last year after I got back from my trip to Ohio, but just as we were about to get on the plane, we thought Ian was having a heart attack. Thankfully, it wasn't, and Ian's health is now turning around. I don't know what I would've done if he had had a heart attack.  I don't know what I would do without Ian.

Lately I have been feeling incredibly emotional.  I am now almost completely off my antidepressants, which I don't know if it's a good thing.  Shortly after my Dad left from his visit to England 2 years ago, I started taking medication to deal with my heavy depression.  It was hard for me at the time.  The day my Dad arrived in England he informed me that my younger brother had a brain tumour, which we later found out was cancerous.  My brother is o.k. now, and had the surgery to remove the tumour shortly after my Dad got back to Ohio.  Between my brother being ill, my Dad leaving, and also my Mom being tested for cancer, I couldn't cope.  I was tired all of the time, I was crying all of the time, and just incredibly low.  My doctor suggested antidepressants as a short term solution, which I agreed to do because I have been battling depression since I was 16 yrs. old.  I'm not cured.  I don't think I'll ever be 100% happy.  But I am now at the point in my life where I thought I don't want to be on these pills anymore, so I am coming off of them slowly.  We shall see how I can cope once I am completely off of them.  Hopefully blogging will help me get feelings and emotions out, because keeping them in is just too hurtful for me.

So, as I blog when I need to, hopefully the healing process will continue. 

Here's to life, healing, and the pursuit of happiness.

I Haven't Written...

...in yonks years!

Christmas has come and gone, a new year has begun, Valentine's Day has now passed, and Tuesday is the first of March.

Where as the time gone?!

Since I last wrote I have had ups and downs. Lots of challenges with work, getting a new job, and then turning it down. The CQC came in and we got a compliant rating, and things were looking on the up and up. Now, residents are falling ill, or just falling, and the home is emptying out one room by one. We unfortunately lost one resident this week, which is sad.

And in 24 days my Dad will be here for two weeks to visit. SOOOOOOOO looking forward to that. The three of us will be traveling around the UK catching up with people and seeing sites. We're trying York again because last time we had to cut our holiday short due to food poisoning.

Ian and I have changed our eating habits (but not 100% strict) and we're now SLOWLY starting to lose some weight.

Friends have had great news to share. I won't go into full details all around, because I can't, but you all know who you are. :)

So it's been busy since Christmas. Let's see what life brings next!

Day 365 of 365: Good Bye, My Friend....

I didn't want my last 365 post to be a sad one, but to be honest, with the year of officially having to blog coming to a close, so does another aspect of this past year's chapter.

For a little while now, Spike had unfortunately been spraying in the house. I caught him one night spraying the outside of the cat box, and then he kept spraying at the bottom of the stairs.

Ian and I were at a complete loss and had no clue what to do.

So we asked experts, tried Feliway, got rid of odor, tried baking soda, the lot...and it still wouldn't stop. But on top of the spraying, Spike eventually became very bitter, swiping at Angel whenever he walked by. If Angel wanted some attention, Spike revolted with a swish of his tail, his back to us, and his ears back. Our living situation wasn't fair on any of us.

This past Saturday I phoned the shelter where we adopted Spike and Angel from and asked for advice. They basically said we had tried everything we could, but maybe it would be better if Spike and Angel were separated after 8 years of living together. Unfortunately, the shelter had no history on Spike and Angel, so they probably just "tolerated" each other those years. It got the to the point where we had an upstairs cat (Angel) and a downstairs cat (Spike).

Sunday came, and Ian and I woke up and packed up Spike's things. We sent him back with his food bowl, bowl mat, scratching post, food, and his toy mouse he played with the most. It was tough taking him back, and I cried so much it looked like I had been punched in the face, but it's for the best. Hopefully, he will be adopted out to another home real soon. His coat had grown back beautifully, and it felt so much better because we actually took CARE of him and Angel.

I do miss Spike, I won't lie. I don't miss his spraying, the awful smell, and his constant meowing when I got in from work just to feed him (that's another thing too, he was pushing poor Angel out of the way and eating HIS food as well). But I miss how silly Spike was, and him laying on my lap, or watching TV with Ian and I.

We just hope he finds a great home that he deserves.

Day 353 of 365: We Are Officially...

....an adult, married couple.

Why, you ask? Why didn't it happen before? Well, because we never had a fridge freezer unit!

At our wedding party we received gracious gifts of money in some of our cards, and although we were hoping to have enough for a honeymoon, unfortunately we fell a bit short...so we went for Option No. 2 which was a fridge freezer (and had wanted since we moved into our place).

Up until today we had separate units. And we were always fighting for space in our old fridge. Plus our freezer was starting to get warmer than our oven on the outside.

But today Ian noticed that there was a deal going on at Comet, so we went and picked one up. The rest of the money we got we have put in the savings for when we can afford a honeymoon.

Oh, and please don't laugh at the little bear magnet on the fridge.....I've had it since I was in kindergarten. Thanks. :)

Also, we went into Pets at Home to see if they had a litter mat that had been out of stock for months, and it was.....then Ian spotted this and wanted it for the boys:

Ian has learned that it's all about keeping indoor cats busy. The only one that has ventured on it is Angel so far...and he just rubbed the little arms that hold the ball thingies. But still, it's progress!